BURO Bangladesh, formerly BURO Tangail

Gross Loan Portfolio USD, 2010: 78.7 million

Number of active borrowers 2010: 821,826

Average loan balance per borrower USD, 2010: 95.8

Deposits USD, 2010: 29.4 million

Assets USD, 2010: 89.5 million

Number of depositors 2010: 985,182

Mission:

An independent, sustainable, cost-effective microfinance institution that provides diverse, appropriate and market responsive quality financial and business development services at competitive prices along with other social development programs to very poor, poor and vulnerable non-poor customers.

Background and Main Challenges:

BURO Bangladesh has been operating since 1990, and is dedicated to the economic development of the poor in Bangladesh. The beginnings of BURO Bangladesh have been difficult, until 1991 when it dedicated itself to micro-finance with a well-defined approach and a new management. The main ... Read more

Address:

House No.12/A Block No. CEN(F) Road No. 104 Gulshan-2

Dhaka-1212

1212

Bangladesh

Phone:

88 02 885 7876

Fax:

88 02 885 8447

Email:

burot [at] bdmail [dot] net

Website:

www.burobd.org

Products and Services:

Loans

Training and Consulting

Products:

BURO Bangladesh is mainly concentrated on loans to micro-entrepreneurs (81% of the Outstanding Portfolio). BURO Bangladesh disburses collateral fee loans. Primarily, the credit procedures are based on the Grameen model but with some modifications. BURO Bangladesh motivates the target people ... Read more

Looking for (Investment Types):

Loans in Local Currency

Date established:

Jan 1 1990

FYE:

31-Dec

Current Legal Status:

NGO

Regulated:

Social Performance Profile


+ Mission specifics
+ Target markets (ranked by importance)
Women	1
Clients living in rural areas	2
Clients living in urban areas	3
+ Development goals (ranked by importance)
Poverty reduction	1
Increased access to financial services	2
Employment generation	3
Development of start-up enterprises	4
Growth of existing businesses	5
Housing	6
Water and sanitation	6
Youth opportunities	6
Improvement of adult education	7
	8
Children's schooling	8
Health improvement	9
+ Poverty targets
Very poor clients
Poor clients
+ Governance
Has a formal board committee that monitors social performance
+ Range of products and services
+ Financial products and services offered
+ Credit products offered
Microcredit loans for microenterprises
Microcredit for household needs/consumption
SME loans
Loans for agriculture
+ Savings products offered
Voluntary savings accounts
+ Compulsory insurance products required
+ Voluntary insurance products offered
+ Other financial products and services offered
Remittances services
+ Non-financial services offered
+ Enterprise services offered
Business development services
+ Education services offered
Financial literacy education
Child and youth education
+ Health services offered
Basic medical services
+ 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).
Acceptable and unacceptable debt collection practices are clearly spelled out in a code of ethics, book of staff rules or debt collection manual.
The organization's corporate culture values and rewards high standards of ethical behavior and customer service.
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.)
Customers know how their information will be used. Staff explains how data will be used and seeks permission for use.
+ Cost of services to clients
Declining balance interest method
+ Social responsibility to staff
+ Human resources
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
Outreach to remote/rural communities
Portfolio quality
+ Social responsibility to the environment
This institution raises clients' awareness about environmental impacts
This institution trains/educates clients regarding environmental improvements
This institution includes specific clauses in its loan contracts to mitigate specific environmental risks
This institution identifies enterprises with environmental risk
This institution offers lending lines linked to alternative energies

+ Poverty measurement tools in use

Partnerships

Current
Name	Relationship
BWTP	Network Affiliation
INAFI	Network Affiliation
M-CRIL	Rating
MFN	Network Affiliation

MFI Report