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Microfinance Leaders Launch Campaign for Client Protection at Clinton Global Initiative

Microfinance Leaders Launch Campaign for Client Protection at Clinton Global Initiative

Published 09-24-08

Submitted by ACCION International

NEW YORK, N.Y. - September 24, 2008 - The Center for Financial Inclusion at ACCION International today announced a Campaign for Client Protection in Microfinance-a broad-based initiative to unite microfinance providers in commitment to the campaign standards for the appropriate treatment of low-income clients. Founding partners of the Campaign include Al Amana (Morocco), CGAP, Compartamos Banco (Mexico), Deutsche Bank, Freedom from Hunger, Grameen Foundation, Opportunity International, Pro Mujer and Women's World Banking.

Designed to maintain and extend the microfinance industry's dedication to the welfare of its clients in a period of rapid growth, the campaign will promote a Microbanker's Oath, akin to the Hippocratic Oath, articulating six core principles:

  • Avoidance of reckless lending that creates over-indebtedness
  • Transparent and fair pricing
  • Collections practices that are not abusive or coercive
  • Ethical standards for staff
  • Recourse mechanisms for client problems
  • Privacy of client data
At the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI), the Campaign announced a Commitment to Action to engage at least half of the world's 500 largest microfinance institutions (MFIs) reporting to the MIX Market (www.mixmarket.org) within the next three years. The MIX 500 MFIs serve an estimated 65 million borrowers among the self-employed poor worldwide, 70 percent of them women. Ultimately, the Campaign envisions that tens of thousands of people working in the microfinance industry will also personally sign the Oath via a campaign website.

Beyond adherence to common principles, the Campaign will develop implementation tools and certification standards to ensure that pro-consumer practices are implemented. The Campaign also seeks to engage microfinance investors, who have become increasingly active in monitoring the social performance of financially self-sustaining MFIs.

"The profit versus nonprofit microfinance debate that has captured so much industry energy this year is the wrong argument," said Elisabeth Rhyne, managing director of the Center for Financial Inclusion. "The real challenge is to maintain dual focus on rapidly scaling up outreach while meeting the highest standards of client service and protection. The Campaign will foster appropriate growth in microfinance by creating industry practices and standards-ensuring that the social mission remains front and center."

"Investors have a crucial role to play as microfinance providers further develop finance that works for low-income people," said Kate McKee, senior policy advisor for CGAP. "This Campaign provides a vehicle by which investors can both reward and support investment-grade MFIs that truly serve their target populations and adopt policies, practices and products that safeguard their clients' interests."

"The continued fallout from the subprime crisis is a sober reminder of the devastation caused by abusive lending practices," said Alex Counts, president of Grameen Foundation. "The Campaign is designed to ensure that microbankers never forget whom they are serving and that they continue to act in their clients’ best interests."

The CGI commitment to a multi-year Campaign for Client Protection is an outgrowth in part of the 'Pocantico Declaration,' a statement of principles and concerns issued by 25 microfinance leaders brought together by Deutsche Bank (DB) in April 2008 at the Pocantico Conference Center in Tarrytown, New York. While applauding rapid growth and innovation in the delivery of financial services to the world's poor, the Declaration calls attention to the need to ensure that microfinance grows with transparency and without putting the solvency of its clients at risk through over-indebtedness. The Campaign aims to ensure that consumer protection practices and principles become part of the DNA of the microfinance community.

About the Center for Financial Inclusion
The Center for Financial Inclusion pursues the proposition that low-income people deserve high-quality financial services and that these services can best be provided through commercial models that incorporate social purpose. The Center works on behalf of the microfinance industry as a whole, serving as a bridge that leverages private sector interest in the provision of financial services for the poor. With an emphasis on deep collaboration, the Center is outcomes-focused, setting specific goals and measures of accountability for real-world change through inclusive finance. For more information, please visit www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org

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ACCION International

ACCION International

ACCION International is a private, nonprofit organization with the mission of giving people the financial tools they need―microenterprise loans, business training and other financial services―to work their way out of poverty. A world pioneer in microfinance, ACCION was founded in 1961 and issued its first microloan in 1973 in Brazil. ACCION International's partner microfinance institutions today are providing loans as low as $100 to poor men and women entrepreneurs in 25 countries in Latin America, Asia, Africa and the United States. In the last decade alone, ACCION partners have disbursed more than 17.9 million loans totaling more than $12.3 billion; 97 percent of the loans have been repaid. Selected for the fourth consecutive year for its pioneering approaches to poverty alleviation, ACCION was among 43 organizations awarded the 2007 Social Capitalist Award by Fast Company magazine. ACCION has also been awarded Charity Navigator's highest rating―four stars―for efficiency and sound fiscal management. For more information, visit www.accion.org.

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