Unicaja Banco has been one of the ten credit institutions most active in granting ICO Facilities during 2019, aimed at funding the activity of freelancers, SMEs, businesses and entrepreneurs from any sector both in Spain and abroad
Unicaja Banco’s interest in making the ICO funding facilities available to companies falls within its activity as financial and credit institution with a social nature, playing a relevant role in boosting the local economic development through the financial support to businesses and entrepreneurs
The State Secretary for Economy and Business Support, Ana de la Cueva, has chaired today the event of signature of the ICO Facilities 2020 collaboration agreements. The agreements have been signed by the Chairman of the Official Credit Institute (ICO), José Carlos García de Quevedo, and by the representatives of the main financial institutions, including Unicaja Banco, which has been one of the ten credit institutions most active in granting ICO Facilities during 2019.
The ICO Facilities with which Unicaja Banco collaborates are designed to finance the activity of freelancers, SMEs, businesses and entrepreneurs from any sector, both in Spain (ICO Businesses and Entrepreneurs Facilities, ICO Commercial Credit Facility and ICO Mutual Guarantee Company Facility) and abroad (ICO International Facility).
The event, chaired by the State Secretary for Economy and Business Support, has been attended by Unicaja Banco’s Business Banking Director, José Manuel Alba.
Unicaja Banco’s interest in making the ICO financing facilities available to companies falls within its activity as financial and credit institution with a social nature, playing a relevant role in boosting the territorial economic development through the financial support to businesses and entrepreneurs.
The ICO Facilities join the broad range of specialized financial products and services that Unicaja Banco puts at the disposal of businesses, self-employed workers and entrepreneurs to support their activities
In 2019, the ICO Facilities provided financing for more than 63,500 transactions for an aggregate amount of €4,788 million. This amount represents an accumulated growth of 92% in comparison with the amount reached in 2018, reaffirming the ICO commitment to funding the activity of Spanish businesses, both in Spain and abroad.
Of the total amount of funding granted, €3,290 million have promoted the activity of businesses and investment projects in Spain, and €1,525 million have been allocated to promote the export activity of companies and their expansion to foreign markets.
Within the framework of the ICO’s strategy to promote the internationalization of Spanish companies, it should be mentioned that funding granted through ICO International Facilities (€1,525 million) has increased by 47% compared to 2018.
The ICO Facilities, traded through the intermediation of financial institutions, feature a high capillarity: 65% of the loans granted in 2019 have been taken out by SMEs with less than 10 employees, and 90% by companies with up to 50 employees. As per the amount of the transactions, the average granted loan stood at 69,500 million euros.
By Autonomous Communities, the regions with the highest activity have been Catalonia (19%), Madrid (13%), Comunidad Valenciana (12.33%) and Andalusia (12.02%).
ICO Facilities 2020
In 2020, ICO maintains its commitment to the stability and continuity in the commercialization of the Facilities and will continue to adapt efficiently and with flexibility to the financing needs of companies:
· It will finance business activities, both investment and liquidity, for terms ranging from one to 20 years.
· It will continue to simplify the processing of Facilities and management with the end customer.
· It will adapt to the commercial and expansion plans of companies: it maintains the interest-only periods for customers in the case of long-term transactions.
