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> Posted by Hema Bansal and Alexandra Rizzi, India Manager and Deputy Director, the Smart Campaign
The following post was written by Hema Bansal, with support from Alexandra Rizzi.
Over the past year and a half, while conducting several client protection assessments across India, I have often thought about what it takes for an institution to meet the Smart Campaign standards on appropriate products and delivery channels. Among its requirements, the Smart Campaign Certification standards state that providers design products that incorporate client characteristics – and needs, as well as customer feedback into new and existing product offerings.
From engaging with many financial institutions, I have seen that the product design and improvement process is influenced by multiple factors and can be quite complex. A particular challenge in India is the inertia of (and now regulatory emphasis on) the original Grameen lending methodology. While the Grameen joint-liability group methodology was the innovation that enabled millions without collateral to access small loans, its pervasiveness today can often overshadow additional products based on client characteristics and needs. The Grameen methodology has clear advantages for both the lender and the clients, particularly its scalability, but client needs often merit additional products in a lending portfolio. For example, products should have flexible payment options that adjust to clients’ economic and business cycles. Payment options should not limit themselves to mandatory weekly group meetings. They should encompass a wide array of payment periods (bi-weekly, monthly, quarterly, or semestral) and vehicles (pay loan officer, deposit at bank or partner intermediary, telephone payments, etc.) that are suitable to clients. Really the sky is the limit!
> Posted by Aditya Mohan
In an effort to assist investors, networks and rating agencies in assessing the implementation of the Client Protection Principles (CPPs) at associate microfinance institutions, the Smart Campaign recently conducted a Smart Assessor Training in New Delhi. The training was conducted as part of the International Finance Corporation (IFC) – Smart Campaign Partnership in India and was led by Hema Bansal and Amit Gupta from the India Smart Campaign Team.
I only very recently joined the Smart Campaign team in India, and personally, to attend this training in my very second week with the Campaign was a godsend, as it provided me with a wonderfully nuanced introduction to the CPPs and Smart Assessment procedures. I got to learn about the end-to-end process of conducting an assessment – from establishing contact with an organization to interviewing staff to scoring an institution on client protection principles and report writing. Without this training, it would have been much harder to come up to speed only through observation of a live example. The attention to detail at the training was amazing, and a reflection of the standards maintained by the Campaign. As conducting assessments is now one of my key responsibilities, I am confident of being able to hit the ground running with my very first assessment. Read the rest of this entry »
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