Central America’s six economies offer growing opportunities for multinationals, but cross-border payments, treasury management and financing remain complex for companies operating across the region. In this exclusive Q&A, Rodolfo Trejos, BAC’s Sr Corporate Vice-president for Business Banking, explains how the bank is using its regional network to make the isthmus easier to manage as a single market

Until recently, Central America posed a unique paradox for ambitious multinationals. On the one hand, it offered access to fast-growing economies, expanding trade flows and a strategic position between North and South America. And on the other, companies operating across Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Panama and Nicaragua were forced to contend with independent regulatory, political and financial systems that made managing liquidity, payments and day-to-day banking far more difficult than the map might suggest.

At one time it was, as one investor put it, a region “rich in promise but a headache in practice”.

But after years of fragmentation BAC, Central America’s leading bank, has transformed the process by replacing countryby-country banking with a single regional model. Today, BAC processes payments equivalent to 55 per cent of Central America´s GDP, up from 41 per cent in 2020, while total transaction volume has grown from US$107bn to US$227bn over the same period of time.

According to Rodolfo Trejos, BAC’s Sr. corporate vice-president for business banking, demand for faster cross-border payments, deeper digital connectivity and more sophisticated financing is stronger than ever as companies enter and expand across the isthmus.

In this exclusive interview, The European sits down with Trejos to discuss how BAC is adapting to those demands, how regional banking needs are changing, and why the bank believes Central America is becoming easier for companies to manage as a single market.

How is BAC leveraging its presence across Central America to support multinational companies operating in multiple markets, particularly those in high-growth sectors?

BAC operates as one regional institution rather than a federation of local banks, helping remove much of the complexity that has long faced multinational and regional clients in Central America.

We bring 74 years of regional experience, a presence in six countries, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama, serving a customer base exceeding six million clients. Among the region’s privately owned financial groups, BAC holds the number one position in profitability, loan portfolio and deposits, with net loans of US$27.5 billion (a 12 per cent regional market share) and deposits of US$30.2 billion (an 11.3 per cent share), supported by total assets of US$40.7 billion. Our Corporate Banking team focuses on building digital connectivity and product innovation for large corporate and multinational clients across every market we serve, while our Structured Finance team brings tailored financing capabilities, including project finance, syndicated credit, acquisition financing and leveraged recapitalisations, to companies scaling in sectors such as energy, infrastructure, agribusiness, manufacturing and technologyenabled services.

This combination of scale and coordinated regional execution enables us to serve clients seamlessly as a single strategic partner across multiple markets. More broadly, it reflects our commitment to reimagine banking to generate prosperity in the communities we serve, by enabling business growth while contributing to economic development, inclusion, and long-term sustainability across the region.

What advantages does BAC’s regional network offer for crossborder payments, treasury management, and operational efficiency for companies with footprints in several Central American countries?

The advantage is standardisation at scale. Our Corporate Banking team runs a common set of connectivity platforms – including Host-to-Host, Host-to-SWIFT, APIs and messaging solutions – that are deployed consistently across the region. Our Projects team then puts those capabilities into practice through treasury solutions, payroll and supplier payments, account statements, transfer services and SWIFT connections, while also monitoring the stability of those services once they are live.

The impact of the infrastructure is evident in the numbers: BAC now processes payment flows equivalent to 55 per cent of Central America’s GDP, up from 41 per cent in 2020, with total volume growing from US$107 billion to US$227 billion over the same period, a compound annual growth rate of 16.3 per cent.The increase is visible across the full spectrum of treasury services, international transfers, merchant collections, supplier payments, payroll and account-to-account transfers, indicating that companies are increasingly consolidating their regional payment activity with a single partner, rather than maintaining fragmented, market-by-market banking relationships.

For a corporate treasury, this translates into operational efficiency, reduced complexity, and faster regional deployment. Beyond efficiency, this infrastructure also contributes to greater financial inclusion, transparency, and formalisation across markets, supporting sustainable economic development in line with our Triple Value approach.

From BAC’s perspective, what investment or expansion trends are emerging across Central America, and how is the bank adapting its services to meet the needs of companies scaling regionally?

We continue to see companies expand across borders and consolidate the operations regionally in sectors such as retail, agribusiness, energy and real estate, along with growing demand for structured financing to support acquisitions, capacity expansion and recapitalisations.

BAC’s own growth mirrors that trend: total assets of US$40.7 billion, deposits of US$30.2 billion, net income of US$789 million, and profitability metrics, a 19 per cent return on average equity and a 2 per cent return on average assets over the last 12 months, that are among the strongest of any banking group operating regionally.

That balance-sheet strength is what allows us to underwrite the larger, more complex transactions that regional expansion requires. It is also why we built a dedicated Structured Finance team: to design financing schemes, project finance, syndicated loans, acquisition financing and leveraged recapitalisations, and to coordinate regionally on larger transactions, including those involving other financial institutions. We also created a Commercial Strategy function focused on segmentation and data-driven decision-making, so we can identify where growth is concentrating across our markets and adjust our coverage model and value proposition accordingly, rather than reacting market by market.

This allows us to structure transactions that not only support corporate growth but also enable the development of key sectors such as energy, infrastructure, and agribusiness, aligning financing with positive economic, social and environmental outcomes as part of our Triple Value strategy.

How is BAC deploying its digital platforms and automation capabilities consistently across the region to support clients with multi-country operations?

Consistency is the goal, not just availability. Our Corporate Banking team oversees the connectivity platforms themselves – including Host-to-Host, Host-to-SWIFT, APIs and messaging – ensuring that a clients have a consistent experience regardless of the country in which they operate.

Adoption now spands all major payment services offered by BAC, from international payments and merchant collections to supplier payments, payroll and Ameritransfer. This demonstrates that automation is being adopted broadly across client segments and countries, rather than being confined to a single market or product.

How does BAC help regional and multinational clients navigate diverse regulatory environments, manage compliance, and plan financially across different Central American jurisdictions?

Regulatory and compliance complexity is one of the main reasons multinational and regional companies prefer working with a single regional bank rather than coordinating separate banking relationships market by market. Our Projects area leads multidisciplinary, multi-territorial coordination so that when we implement a solution, whether a financing structure or a payment scheme, it has been evaluated across every jurisdiction where the client operates, not approved in one country and exported into the others. On the financing side, risk and credit specialists work alongside our Structured Finance team on every transaction, bringing the credit and risk perspective needed to keep a deal compliant with local frameworks while preserving a coherent structure for the client.

International rating agencies have validated the strength of that governance and risk framework: BAC carries a Ba1 rating with stable outlook from Moody’s, BB+ with stable outlook from Fitch, and BBB- /A-3 with positive outlook from S&P Global. For multinational treasurers, that independent validation of our risk management and capital position is often as important as the operational support we provide; it is a signal that BAC is a sound counterparty across every jurisdiction in which it operates. None of this replaces the need for local legal and tax counsel, but it significantly reduces the friction of operating across borders.

Strong governance and risk management are essential to building long-term trust across jurisdictions, enabling investment, business growth, and financial stability. Ultimately, they support sustainable economic growth and greater confidence among investors and businesses across the region.

Looking ahead, what opportunities does BAC see to deepen its regional role, whether through new financial products, regional integration initiatives, or partnerships that strengthen Central America’s competitiveness?

Looking ahead, I see three main opportunities to deepen BAC’s regional role. The first, is continuing to build strategic alliances with global banks,technology and advisory partners to bring more sophisticated structured financing and digital solutions to the region. The second, using the data and segmentation work led by our Commercial Strategy team to tailor coverage more precisely to where companies are actually growing. The third opportunity is to continue to strengthen our project execution discipline across jurisdictions, so that what we design centrally can be implemented reliably across every market at once.

We see Central America as an increasingly integrated market where capital, payments and operational infrastructure move seamlessly. Our role is to help enable that development by delivering solutions that generate economic, social and environmental value in line with our Triple Value approach.

Further information
Produced with support from BAC. To find out more about its corporate banking services in Central America, visit www.baccredomatic.com/en

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