Sonata Finance Private Ltd

Gross Loan Portfolio USD, 2010: 18.6 million

Number of active borrowers 2010: 132,328

Average loan balance per borrower USD, 2010: 140.8

Deposits USD, 2010: 0.0

Assets USD, 2010: 24.6 million

Number of depositors 2010: 0

Mission:

SONATA Finance Private Ltd offers assistance to the (economically) poorest sectors of society in order to avail them of their basic economic sustenance needs by providing to them micro financial services using latest technology available to obtain efficiency and effectiveness.

The ... Read more

Address:

1/1-A Rai Bahadur Ram Charan Das Rd, Balrampur House

Allahabad

Uttar Pradesh

India

Phone:

+05322441347.

Email:

anup [at] sonataindia [dot] com

Website:

www.sonataindia.com

Main Funding Sources:

Grants

Loans

Products and Services:

Loans

Looking for (Investment Types):

Equity

Loans in Local Currency

Guarantees

% Operations Comprised by MF:

91 - 100

Date established:

Jan 1 2006

FYE:

31-Mar

Current Legal Status:

NBFI

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
Employment generation	3
Development of start-up enterprises	4
Growth of existing businesses	5
Gender equality and women's empowerment	6
+ Poverty targets
Very poor clients
Poor clients
Low income clients
+ Governance
Has trained members of its board on social performance management
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
Loans for agriculture
+ Savings products offered
+ Compulsory insurance products required
Compulsory credit life insurance
+ 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
Declining balance interest method
+ Social responsibility to staff
+ Human resources
Transparency on salary (a clear salary scale based upon market salaries)
Benefits (medical insurance, pension contribution)
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
Client retention/drop-out rate
Portfolio quality
+ Social responsibility to the environment
This institution identifies enterprises with environmental risk
+ Poverty measurement tools in use
Grameen Progress out of Poverty Index (PPI)