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.

Clients use the call center for grievance redressal and as a general information hotline. Having a formal mechanism for receiving clients’ complaints is one of the Client Protection Principles that is often overlooked by financial institutions, particularly small ones who believe that problems can be resolved through informal means. Tameer managers note that the process of receiving complaints has not only allowed them to address individual problems but also to reveal trends such as breakdowns in customer service or to identify poorly trained staff. In addition to complaints, the call center has become a way for clients or potential clients to ask clarifying questions about Tameer’s products and policies.

In the Smart Note, Tameer Bank stressed how important it is for clients to feel that they have a relationship with the bank as an institution, so that they can appeal to someone other than their loan officer. Prompt resolution of complaints and questions is an important part of ensuring that the client has a good experience with the institution, as clients are the bank’s most effective ambassadors.

Do the readers of this blog have any stories to share about the client protection functions of a microfinance call-center?

Read the full smart note here.

Image Credit: Tameer Bank

Have you read?

New Smart Note: Supporting Members to Adopt Client Protection at Azerbaijan Microfinance Association

Smart Note: Appropriate Product Design and Delivery at Musoni

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.

Despite this large effort, AMFA has admitted that due to competing priorities some MFIs have been slow to adapt the principles. However, since their social performance strategy was launched, 90% of their member organizations have endorsed the Smart Campaign and increased focus on client protection.

AMFA’s commitment and ongoing client protection initiatives can serve as a good practice example to other networks and associations.

To learn more about how AMFA supports its members, be sure to check out the new Smart Note.

Have you read?

Improving Sector Transparency: A Case Study on the Azerbaijan Microfinance Association

Smart Note: Hiring Staff with Disabilities at AccessBank, Azerbaijan

Smart Note: Responding to a Crisis at FUNDESER

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.

We believe this Smart Note is a good resource for organizations interested in mobile banking and for MFIs designing a product based on clients’ preferences.

To learn more about how Musoni uses client feedback to develop products, please download the Smart Note.

Have you read?

Mobile Money as a (Payment) Planning Tool

5 Tough Questions About Mobile Banking

Otero on Mobile Banking