In June 2020, the Smart Campaign recognised the action of FATEN, partner of the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation, in terms of customer protection by granting the institution the Smart Certification. The Smart Campaign is a global initiative to incorporate strong client protection principles into the financial inclusion industry. The Smart Campaign’s Client Protection Certification programme publicly recognizes those institutions providing financial services to low-income households whose standards of care uphold the Smart Campaign’s seven Client Protection Principles. These principles cover such important areas such as pricing, transparency, fair and respectful treatment and prevention of over-indebtedness.
The certification programme contains a rigorous set of standards against which institutions are evaluated by independent, third-party raters that are licensed by the Smart Campaign. The raters are established, specialized rating agencies with extensive experience, having analyzed hundreds of institutions to date.
In 2019, the Smart Campaign already publicly recognised the action of three other microfinance institutions, partner of the Foundation, as Client Protection Certified for meeting strong standards of client care: Musoni (Kenya), Chamroeun (Cambodia) and Salym Finance (Kyrgyzstan). These institutions have thus joined almost 120 others in over 40 countries that have been certified since the programme was launched in January 2013.
For further information about Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation partners, please click here.