Palestine for Credit & Development

Gross Loan Portfolio USD, 2010: 21.1 million

Number of active borrowers 2010: 11,008

Average loan balance per borrower USD, 2010: 1,917.7

Deposits USD, 2010: 0.0

Assets USD, 2010: 22.0 million

Number of depositors 2010: 0

Mission:

To strengthen the economic base of Palestinian microentrepreneurs, particularly women, by providing sustainable financial services suited to their needs.

Background and Main Challenges:

Palestine for Credit and Development (FATEN) is a non-profit private shareholding company, Registered on 14 July 1999, with registration number 563124478. FATEN emerged from a microfinance program founded by Save the Children in 1995 for the purpose of serving Palestinian women ... Read more

Address:

P.O.Box 2446

Ramallah

West Bank

Palestine

Phone:

00 970 2 296 1470

Fax:

00 970 2 296 1472

Email:

faten [at] faten [dot] org

Website:

www.faten.org

Main Funding Sources:

Grants

Loans

Products and Services:

Loans

Training and Consulting

Products:

FATEN offers a variety of credit products: GGL, Family, Housing, Start-up, Pioneer, Personal (health, student, computer and education loans). FATEN’s products are also available in all Islamic tools such as Morabaha.

Looking for (Investment Types):

Loans in USD

Equity investments

Date established:

Jan 1 1995

FYE:

31-Dec

Current Legal Status:

NBFI

Regulated:

yes

Social Performance Profile


+ Mission specifics
+ Target markets (ranked by importance)
+ Development goals (ranked by importance)
+ Poverty targets
Very poor clients
Poor clients
Low income clients
+ Governance
Has trained members of its board on social performance management
+ 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 education
Housing loans
Health treatment loan, computer loans, start up loans for youth
+ Savings products offered
+ Compulsory insurance products required
+ Voluntary insurance products offered
+ Other financial products and services offered
+ Non-financial services offered
+ Enterprise services offered
+ Education services offered
+ 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).
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
Flat 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
Quality of interaction with clients based on client feedback mechanisms
Client retention/drop-out rate
Portfolio quality
+ Social responsibility to the environment
This institution raises clients' awareness about environmental impacts
This institution identifies enterprises with environmental risk
+ Poverty measurement tools in use
Per capita household income
Means test
Food security index