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The Smart Campaign’s most recent Smart Note focuses on the work of Tameer Bank, one of the largest microfinance institutions in Pakistan, and its in-house call center. The call center, the Tameer Customer Service Unit, began in response to an uptick of client delinquency in 2007. Tameer wanted to find ways to address client needs and reduce delinquency through a direct channel through which Tameer and its clients could communicate. The call center is a two-way channel, allowing Tameer to communicate and verify information with clients, and allowing clients to reach Tameer to ask questions and lodge complaints.
Tameer uses the call center to connect with clients at various stages of the credit lifecycle. Prior to receiving a loan, clients are called as part of a verification process where issues such as inappropriate loan size, multiple borrowing and repayment capacity can be flagged. This can help to avoid over-indebtedness. After receiving a loan, clients receive automated text message reminders from the call center about their payments, and if clients are delinquent the center calls to understand why and take steps to prevent future delinquency. Tameer noted that since the launch of the call center, delinquency has decreased markedly.
> Posted by Maggie Long
The unique role of microfinance networks and associations in the industry’s adoption of client protection practices, while often overlooked, is quite extensive. For example, as the new Smart Note describes, the Azerbaijan Microfinance Association (AMFA), as part of their larger social performance management strategy, actively supports its 28 member organizations in the adoption of the Client Protect Principles through a variety of services.
In order to generate interest and convince its members to commit to client protection, AMFA offers trainings on client protection, provides and creates client protection materials, and recently sponsored a study that included 2,000 client interviews. In addition to all of these initiatives, and thanks to funding from USAID, several AMFA staff members have been trained in the client protection assessment methodology and have since been able to perform assessments on MFIs within their network. Read the rest of this entry »
> Posted by Maggie Long
The success of mobile banking in Kenya has led to a lot of discussion about its potential impact on financial inclusion around the globe and, as technology has improved, the discussion has come to include what additional services can be offered through mobile banking. Musoni is a Kenyan microfinance institution that uses mobile technology to provide flexible and convenient loans along with a variety of other services to low-income people based on their needs and preferences.
In the new Smart Note, Appropriate Product Design and Delivery at Musoni, Musoni talks to the Smart Campaign about how they conducted in-depth, participatory research to determine what potential clients wanted and needed from a microfinance institution. Only after thorough client research did they design their product. Through their research they discovered clients wanted better access, more flexibility, price transparency, and financial education.
Musoni found that not only has mobile technology allowed them to address these preferences but it has also reduced clients’ personal risk, lowered delinquency, reduced potential fraud, and created a “positive dynamic” between the MFI and its clients. Read the rest of this entry »
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