The ProCredit banks worldwide provide financing to micro and small businesses. Many of these businesses belong to the informal economy and lack conventional accounting systems and financial statements. Banco Los Andes ProCredit is one of the oldest institutions in the ProCredit microfinance network. It operates in a country that has one of the most highly developed and competitive microcredit markets in the world. This has strengthened Banco Los Andes and enabled the ProCredit network to use the experience in Bolivia as a base case study for its other banks in developing economies around the world. In 2005, Banco Los Andes ProCredit received a $2 million loan from the IIC. Similar loans went to Banco ProCredit Nicaragua, Banco ProCredit Ecuador, and Banco ProCredit El Salvador. All four also received technical assistance from the MIF. Since then, Banco Los Andes has received a full banking license and has grown faster than average for the market. It has become one of the leading microcredit institutions in Bolivia. Banco Los Andes will use this new IIC loan to expand its operations, offer a wider variety of financial services, and diversify its sources of funding.