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> Posted by Alyssa Passarelli, Communications and Operations Assistant, the Smart Campaign
Sergio Guzmán conducting a Smart Assessor’s Training in Budva, Montenegro
The month of May was filled with many exciting events for the Smart Campaign. Smart Campaign director, Isabelle Barrès traveled to Guatemala and Bosnia and Herzegovina for two Client Protection Certification events (please see our last blog post). Smart Campaign Lead Specialist, Sergio Guzmán also traveled to this corner of the world to conduct a Smart Assessor’s Training and to attend the 16th Annual Microfinance Centre Conference in Budva, Montenegro. Although the Campaign is based in Washington, D.C., Campaign staff thrive on opportunities to engage in client protection efforts beyond the office.
It’s a good thing that Sergio does not have a fear of heights. With the amount of time that Sergio spends in the air each month, he might as well be Superman. The Smart Assessor’s Training in Budva brought together a diverse group of financial services experts including donors, investors, consultants, and CEOs of microfinance institutions (MFIs), among others in the Eastern Europe/Central Asia region. Even with the ranging backgrounds of these participants, Sergio notes that the evident common denominators are the enthusiasm to incorporate the Client Protection Principles (CPPs) into their work and a keen desire to improve their commitment to those they serve.
It is very exciting for the Campaign to generate interest among such a wide range of actors at events like the training in Budva. The Smart Campaign’s growing involvement in activities among participants from different backgrounds reflects client protection’s increasing foothold. This layered interest and further desire to cement client protection into business practices is a promising achievement for the movement.
> Posted by Alyssa Passarelli and Jeffrey Riecke, the Smart Campaign and CFI
One good deed often leads to another. Whether it’s by learning about new opportunities to do good or by an increase in peer pressure, positive changes are contagious. This also applies to business practices, including how financial institutions treat their clients. Still new on the microfinance scene, the Client Protection Certification program has certified six MFIs to date – three in India and three in Bosnia and Herzegovina. As more institutions become certified, it increasingly changes the expectations for how financial institutions are to serve the poor, especially the expectations in markets where groups of institutions have been certified, like those in India and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Smart Campaign Director Isabelle Barrès recently traveled to Bosnia and Herzegovina for an event to publicly congratulate and recognize the country’s three MFIs that were certified earlier this year, EKI, Mi-Bospo, and Partner. Organized by stakeholders in the Bosnian market, in particular the IFC, the event also highlighted the significance of certification, for the institutions and for the market at large. Of the three Bosnian MFIs Isabelle said, “The three client protection certified financial institutions, EKI, Mi-Bospo and Partner, can distinguish themselves in a highly competitive market, as organizations that are meeting adequate standards of customer care. They deserve the spotlight, and the attention from responsible funders and from clients.”
> Posted by Sonja E. Kelly, Fellow, CFI
Courses featuring microfinance can be found in most colleges or universities, and the development of the syllabi for these courses has begun to create a sort of “microfinance canon.” As the next generation of microfinance professionals enters the market, there are a few things that many of them have read, and a few questions that many of them have been required to consider.
I took 10 syllabi (a small sample size, admittedly) and looked for trends in what is being taught, what is being read, and what is being assigned. Here are a few things I found:
- Students are reading Collins et al., Armendariz and Morduch, and Rhyne more than any other authors (Helms was a close fourth). These three authors represent a nice diversity of method and emphasis. Collins et al.’s Portfolios takes more of a client perspective, Armendariz and Morduch explain the more technical nuances, and Rhyne offers a more practical business approach.
- Guest speakers are a major part of class time. Given that microfinance is still very much practitioner (rather than academic) oriented, it is no surprise that guest speakers are used quite frequently in class time. Most, if not all, of these speakers are in top positions at well-known microfinance institutions.
- Assignments range from case study examples, to policy briefs, business plans, and product designs. In a few of the syllabi, students were required to make presentations, including one that assigned an investor pitch in lieu of a final exam.
Beyond these content-related observations, I noticed that microfinance classes don’t seem to have an agreed-upon disciplinary “home” in academia. Classes are typically hosted in business, economics, public policy, and international relations departments. In addition (and this is probably related), professors tend to not be tenure-track academics. Often, they are involved in microfinance as practitioners in some way.
> Posted by Center Staff
Smart Campaign Director Isabelle Barrès is the latest to write for the CGAP Microfinance Blog‘s new series on responsible finance.
“Client Protection: Are We There Yet?” begins:
Since its launch, the Smart Campaign has made enormous strides toward ensuring that clients of microfinance would receive transparent, respectful, and prudent treatment. The Campaign is proud to now have more than 1000 institutions as endorsers and these organizations that serve over 40 million low-income people.
In the last year, at least 10 major microfinance investment funds managing over US$2 billion have integrated client protection into their due diligence and reporting. Read the rest of this entry »
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