Client protection certification standards describe where the microfinace industry sets the bar in terms of client protection. To be Certified, a financial institution (FI) needs to comply with the indicators corresponding to the following 30 adequate standards of care for client protection.
“Avoidance of Over-indebtedness: Guidelines for Financial and Non-financial Evaluation” is a tool for financial service providers that want to incorporate good client protection practices into their evaluation processes for individual loan clients. Specifically, the tool provides guidelines for determining a loan applicant’s capacity and willingness to repay a loan. A careful evaluation process is critical to avoiding client over-indebtedness, the situation in which a client cannot repay a loan without […]
Excerpts related to avoiding client over-indebtedness, translated from Spanish.
Past-due or non-collectible loans are part and parcel of the financial sector. As past-due rates surpass expected limits, though, this piece of the credit cycle can become a true problem. While often seen as a final step in the lending cycle, collections actually plays a much more integral role in the overall process. In recent years microfinance institutions (MFIs) have sought to develop new and more effective strategies for collections. […]
Swadhaar FinServe Pvt. Ltd. (SFPL) is an Indian Non Banking Financial Company serving the states of Maharashtra and Gujarat. Based in Mumbai, SFPL serves Western India’s urban poor, striving to increase their access to financial services so that they may increase their economic capacity and develop a more secure financial future. SFPL currently offers two loan products: a joint-liability group loan targeting economically active women, and an individual business loan […]
Treating clients with dignity and respect helps financial service providers adhere to both their social mission and financial goals.It is a “win-win”—the client is satisfied and the provider gains the client’s loyalty and continued business. This dual advantage can motivate providers to improve their policies and procedures governing staff-client relations,including collections practices, ethical standards, complaints mechanisms, and staff training. The Smart Campaign’s Client Protection Principle on Fair and Respectful Treatment […]
Financial service providers should treat clients (including potential clients) with honesty, fairness, and respect. Due to their low social status, many low-income clients receive poor treatment when interacting with mainstream business or government organizations. This is not acceptable for pro-client financial service providers. Financial service providers discriminate when they treat people differently and less favorably because of characteristics that are not related to their ability to meet the requirements of […]
En Compartamos tenemos fuertes valores compartidos que delinean nuestra personalidad y que se expresan a través de acciones concretas que siempre buscan el bien de los demás. Nos dedicamos a ofrecer oportunidades, te invito a que des el primer paso aceptando tú mismo la oportunidad de convertirte en mejor persona, de servir con un interés auténtico en la persona, de vivir y trabajar con pasión y responsabilidad, de reconocer el […]
FUNDESER started in 1997 as a rural agricultural development initiative designed to deliver basic financial and non-financial services to Nicaraguan agricultural workers. In 2000, FUNDESER began specializing in rural microfinance and expanded to reach communities where people were struggling with poverty and financial exclusion. Headquartered in Managua, FUNDESER now has more than 18 branches across Nicaragua. From 2004 to 2008, FUNDESER experienced its biggest growth spurt. The number of clients […]
Microfinance has demonstrated its potential to assist the poor to make significant strides towards reducing their vulnerability, improving their livelihoods, paying for basic health care and financing their children’s education. Many microfinance Institutions (MFIs) have demonstrated an ability to provide financial services to poor people on a sustainable, profitable basis. Together, these facts have attracted a great deal of donor of money and a wide variety of organisations into the […]