Asasah | MFIs in Pakistan

Gross Loan Portfolio USD, 2010: 1.9 million

Number of active borrowers 2010: 18,941

Average loan balance per borrower USD, 2010: 101.5

Deposits USD, 2010: —

Assets USD, 2010: —

Number of depositors 2010: —

Mission:

To enhance the micro productivity of the house hold living below the poverty line by providing economic, educational and diversified information opportunities.

Background and Main Challenges:

Challenges: Funding constraints for working capital, fixed costs and Capacity Building.

Address:

2 Berg, Canal View Soceity

Lahore

Punjab

Pakistan

Phone:

0092 42 5421824

Fax:

0092 42 5436796

Email:

asasah [at] nexlinx [dot] net [dot] pk

Website:

www.asasah.org

Main Funding Sources:

Loans

Products and Services:

Loans

Voluntary Savings

Training and Consulting

Looking for (Investment Types):

Loans in Local Currency

Guarantees

Capacity Building Grants

Equity investments

Loans in US$

% Operations Comprised by MF:

91 - 100

Date established:

Jan 1 2003

FYE:

30-Jun

Current Legal Status:

NGO

Regulated:

yes

Social Performance Profile


+ Mission specifics
+ Target markets (ranked by importance)
Women	1
+ Development goals (ranked by importance)
Poverty reduction	1
Increased access to financial services	2
Growth of existing businesses	3
Health improvement	4
Development of start-up enterprises	5
Children's schooling	6
+ Poverty targets
Very poor clients
Poor clients
Low income clients
+ Governance
+ Range of products and services
+ Financial products and services offered
+ Credit products offered
Microcredit loans for microenterprises
SME loans
Loans for education

+ Savings products offered
Voluntary savings accounts
+ Compulsory insurance products required
Compulsory credit life insurance
Health insurance for member & spouse
+ Voluntary insurance products offered
+ Other financial products and services offered
Mobile banking services
Microleasing
+ Non-financial services offered
+ Enterprise services offered
Enterprise skills development
Business development services
+ Education services offered
Financial literacy education
Basic health/nutrition education
+ Health services offered
+ Women's empowerment services offered
+ Products and services targeting the poor
Products and services specifically designed to target the poor:
+ Social responsibility to clients
+ Client protection principles in use
The loan approval process requires evaluation of borrower repayment capacity and loan affordability. Loan approval does not rely solely on guarantees (whether peer guarantees, co-signers or collateral) as a substitute for good capacity analysis.
Internal audits check household debt exposure, lending practices that violate procedures including unauthorized re-financing, multiple borrowers or co-signers per household, and other practices that could increase indebtedness.
Productivity targets and incentive systems value portfolio quality at least as highly as other factors, such as disbursement or customer growth. Growth is rewarded only if portfolio quality is high.
Prices, terms and conditions of all financial products are fully disclosed to the customer prior to sale, including interest charges, insurance premiums, minimum balances, all fees, penalties, linked products, third party fees, and whether these can change over time.
Staff is trained to communicate effectively with all customers, ensuring that they understand the product, the terms of the contract, their rights and obligations. Communications techniques address literacy limitations (e.g. reading contracts out loud, materials in local languages).
A mechanism to handle customer complaints is in place, has dedicated staff resources, and is actively used. (Suggestion boxes alone are generally not considered adequate.)
+ Cost of services to clients
+ Social responsibility to staff
+ Human resources
Transparency on salary (a clear salary scale based upon market salaries)
Protection at work (safety, anti-harassment)
Equality (anti-discrimination, equal pay for men and women with equivalent skill levels)
+ Basis of staff incentives related to social performance
Ability to attract new clients from target market
Portfolio quality
+ Social responsibility to the environment
+ Poverty measurement tools in use