New & Noteworthy

The Smart Campaign hopes to receive feedback from all industry stakeholder groups on the Certification Program in order to confirm the assumptions, refine the process, and pilot test the proposed adequate standards for client protection. Click here to read more about how to give your feedback.

A new report by Jessica Schicks, "Over-Indebtedness of Microborrowers in Ghana" reminds practitioners and researchers to focus on repayment struggles, as well as on arrears and penetration rates, putting customer protection at the center of the efforts to track over-indebtedness and design products.

The Smart Campaign published an unprecedented compilation of third-party assessments of client protection at microfinance institutions (MFIs). “Implementing Client Protection in Microfinance: The State of the Practice, 2011,” is a first look at how the microfinance industry is doing when it comes to client protection. The short answer is: It’s doing pretty well.

The Smart Campaign, a global initiative to incorporate strong client protection principles across the microfinance industry, received a grant of US $350,000 from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to help Indian MFIs incorporate client protection practices into their operations. Read more about this partnership.

The Center for Financial Inclusion at ACCION, USAID and FHI 360 have just released a Field Report on Microfinance and Energy Poverty, reporting the results of a three-year field project focused on leveraging microfinance institutions and savings groups in Africa to build a market and distribution channels for affordable solar lighting in rural villages on the continent.

Check out the Center's Financial Inclusion Glossary. The glossary represents our effort to facilitate consensus and collaboration by defining terms essential for discussing and constructing strategies towards financial inclusion.

The microfinance industry’s Client Protection Principles (CPPs) are now seven. They have been expanded to address multiple financial products and the concept of “non-discrimination.”

“Opportunities and Obstacles to Financial Inclusion” reveals that financial education was the top opportunity seen by the 301 industry stakeholders who participated in the January-March 2011 survey. In tandem, lack of financial literacy headed the list of perceived obstacles to financial inclusion.

The Center for Financial Inclusion today releases "Weathering the Storm: Hazards, Beacons, and Life Rafts," which explores the crisis-management experiences of ten MFIs in Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas.

> Posted by Center Staff - May 24, 2011

The Smart Campaign and MicroFinance Transparency (MFTransparency) have unveiled the new tool "Putting Transparency into Practice: Communicating About Pricing." The tool describes how financial service providers can observe the principle of transparency and notes current resources that exist to help providers understand and communicate their prices to clients.