Tamweelcom, formerly JMCC

Data provided through Tamweelcom

Gross Loan Portfolio USD, 2011: 25.4 million

Number of active borrowers 2011: 46,528

Average loan balance per borrower USD, 2011: 546.9

Deposits USD, 2011: 0.0

Assets USD, 2011: 27.1 million

Number of depositors 2011: 0

Mission:

1. Provide wide range of credit products to Microentrepreneurs and SME's, aiming to help them enhance their businesses.

2. Provide Credit services to clients who are viable operationally, but lack cash to further expand their operations.

3. Help non-bankable clients, or ... Read more

Background and Main Challenges:

1.0 START UP & ESTABLISHMENTS

The Jordan Micro Credit Company (Tamweelcom) was established in 1999. The company is fully owned by Noor Al-Hussein Foundation (NHF), which operates as and independent entity under the umbrella of the King Hussein Foundation (KHF).

Tamweelcom is registered at the Ministry of Industry and Commerce under No. 5749 dated 20/6/1999 as a limited liability non-profit company. By internal laws, the company is allowed to borrow and receive grants from donor agencies. Yet Tamweelcom is not allowed to distribute dividends to share-holders. Any profit generated is to be recycled into the program to increase the ability to serve more clients.

Tamweelcom's paid up capital is JD 2,500,000 (US$ 3,520,000) fully paid by NHF, and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) via the AMR Program - Jordan.

2.0 TAMWEELCOM OBJECTIVES AND GOALS

Tamweelcom was basically established to educate clients to differentiate between subsidized lending (and/or charity) and Credit. It was clear that creating a commercial standby institution to run such a program, separately from NHF would serve such a goal. Tamweelcom educates clients on the importance of paying on time, explaining that this is one of the major points the company will rely on, if the loan is to be renewed.

Tamweelcom also aims to achieve the following objectives:

1. Provide credit opportunities to microentrepreneurs to help them enhance their businesses and increase their overall family income.
2. Provide credit to entrepreneurs who do not have access to credit through commercial channels, due to collateral obstacles.
3. Contribute to the national economy by creating more business opportunities and decreasing the unemployment rate (indirect goal).

Furthermore, Tamweelcom introduced a business linkage unit as an effort to serve a wide range of business development services. The new unit is responsible for helping clients to vertically or horizontally integrate to better run their own businesses and reach sources of inputs with a minimum cost.

3.0 TAMWEELCOM ACCOMPLISHMENTS

1999: The Jordan Micro Credit Company (Tamweelcom) is established and starts its operation as a non-profit company.

2002: Tamweelcom becomes an active member in the MIX Market transparency website.

2003: Tamweelcom graduates from the whole sale funding funded by USAID, and becomes both financially and operationally sustainable.

2005: Tamweelcom conducts a rating evaluation for the years 2005-2006 for the first time to gauge the overall performance and is rated as B+ with positive trend.

2005: A financial transparency Merit prize is awarded to Tamweelcom.

2006: Tamweelcom becomes the first Arab microfinance institution to be awarded the CGAP Transparency award.

2007: Conducts the second rating by Planet Rating gauging the overall performance and is rated as A- with positive outlook.

2007: Tamweelcom is awarded the (PPIC- Pro-Poor Innovation Challenge) for adhering to best practices and is the first inistitution to win such an award in the region.

2007: Tamweelcom is listed among the 10 best microfinance institutions in the world.

2008: Tamweelcom is selected as 5 Diamond MFI of the month on the MIX Market.

4.0 CAPACITY & AREA COVERAGE

Tamweelcom's start was rather modest, with only five loan officers and a small office at the Noor Al-Hussein Foundation building. Nowadays, Tamweelcom has 130 employees out of which 100 are in the operation department working throughout Tamweelcom’s 13 branches covering the following areas:

1. Hussein branch serves Middle Amman Areas.
2. Hashmi Branch serves north and mid town.
3. Ashrafia Branch serves East and southern parts of Amman.
4. Zarqa Branch serves the governorate of Zarqa.
5. Irbid Branch serves the governorate of Irbid and surrounding cities and villages.
6. Ain Basha Branch serves the surrounding areas of the Baqa'a Refugee Camp, Ein Al-Basha, Swaileh, and Salt governorate.
7. Bayader Branch serves West Amman Areas.
8. Marka Branch servers northern and southern Marka.
9. Rusayfa Branch serves the governorate of Rusayfa.
10. Bni Knanah Branch serves Bni Kananah and some surrounding villages.
11. Al Karak Branch serves the mid-south areas.
12. Madaba Branch serves the southern part of Amman.
13. Al Aqaba Branch serves the southern part of the kingdom.

5.0 CLIENT PROFILE

Tamweelcom, as one of the Microcredit Institutions in Jordan has successfully reached over 53,000 clients with 73,000 different kind of loans, also managed to develop a client profile that can be described as the following:

o 95% of the current portfolio is female clients. Yet Tamweelcom has no gender preferences in disbursing loans.
o Tamweelcom disburses loans to clients between 18 – 60 years old. Yet more emphasis and attention is given to young entrepreneurs between 18 – 30 years old in harmony with government's approach to help young men and women starting and developing their own businesses. To sum up:

35% of Tamweelcom current clients are between 18- 30 years.
34% of Tamweelcom current clients are between 31- 40 years.
22% of Tamweelcom current clients are between 41- 50 years.
8% of Tamweelcom current clients are between 51- 60 years.

o As for education, 97.2% of Tamweelcom’s clients are with high school diplomas and more.
o 92.1% of Tamweelcom loans are disbursed to very poor people, with limited financial resources. Such loans are any amount below JD 700.
o Tamweelcom serves all economic sectors; whether commercial, Service, and industrial. The portfolio is divided respectively to 86%, 4.4% and 9.5%. Hide

Address:

Tla'a Al-Ali King Abdeullah II Street P.O Box 925715

Amman

11190

Jordan

Phone:

00 962 6 535 4336

Fax:

00 962 6 535 4328

Email:

info [at] tamweelcom [dot] org

Website:

www.tamweelcom.org

Main Funding Sources:

Grants

Loans

Products and Services:

Loans

Insurance

Training and Consulting

Products:

CREDIT PROGRAM

1. FINANCIAL SERVICES:

Tamweelcom currently serves the following loan products which came as a result of continuous market research and client feedback:

1. Group Loans: Directed to Home Based, women-owned projects. A loan of small amount and easy repayment terms with concentration on group guarantee. Loan term is 12 months, and to be disbursed to a group of 4.

2. Amal Loan: Directed to women headed families, unemployed people, home based businesses … etc. An individual loan with easy installments and minimum grantors, and possible grace periods.

3. Pioneers Loans: Directed to Micro-Small and Small-Medium range businesses (either start-ups and/or Existing). This Loan is similar in nature to the Existing Businesses Loans.

4. Seasonal Loans: Loans disbursed in Special seasons to help entrepreneurs buy extra inventory and be ready for certain occasions such as Eid, New Year, and Schools Season .etc

2. NON-FINANCIAL SERVICES:

While Tamweelcom operates as a non-profit, it is run as a commercial entity whereby Microfinance loans effectively raise living standards, the client is given as much support as needed through Tamweelcom non-Financial Services, which include Tamweelcom primary school educational grant , Marketing gateway and Business to Business linkage unit.

- Business to Business linkage:

As an effort to offer a wide range of business development services, Business to business linkages unit caters to businesses and reaches sources of inputs at minimal cost.

- Primary school educational grant:

The concept of the school education grant was initiated by Tamweelcom, as one of its Corporate Social Responsibility efforts and its non-financial services, to offer a helping hand to our loyal clients while planting a seed for their future through their children's' education.

Tamweelcom's educational grant will directly benefit over 1,000 students who will be enrolled and accounted for financially in the coming school year. The students have been chosen with a special criterion from the most productive poor Tamweelcom clients.

Tamweelcom hopes for the grant to become a model of success by providing the students' families with the opportunity to educate their children and not carry the burden of their educational expenses. This initiative is considered a pilot project for a large more permanent Tamweelcom educational fund.

- Permanent show room and bazaars:

Tamweelcom has launched the Marketing Gateway in order to provide its clients with the opportunity to sell their products within a wide reach, through the permanent show room and the annual bazaars.

The concept of creating Marketing gateway is a unique one supported by a detailed media plan allowing clients to experience the market firsthand.

Such spaces will overcome the hindering obstacle of marketing through showcasing clients’ talents with a display of original and innovative products while highlighting the clients' quality of work.

With Tamweelcom's permanent showrooms and bazaars, clients will continue to participate in creating their own economic opportunities and improving the quality of their lives.

3. INSURANCE

Since 2003, Tamweelcom has provided its clients with a life insurance scheme , in which the insurance company covers the outstanding amount in case of death, which has lately adjusted to cover loan amount in case of death and full disability due to accident or illness cases. Hide

Services Provided:

Business Development Services

Looking for (Investment Types):

Loans in Local Currency

Donations

Capacity Building Grants

Other Investment

Loans in US$

% Operations Comprised by MF:

91 - 100

Date established:

Jan 1 1999

FYE:

31-Dec

Current Legal Status:

NBFI

Regulated:

Social Performance Profile


+ Mission specifics
+ Target markets (ranked by importance)
Women	1
Clients living in urban areas	2
Clients living in rural areas	3
+ Development goals (ranked by importance)
Poverty reduction	1
Gender equality and women's empowerment	2
Employment generation	3
Development of start-up enterprises	4
Growth of existing businesses	5
Increased access to financial services	6
Health improvement	7
Housing	8
+ Poverty targets
Poor clients	1
Low income clients	1
+ Governance
+ Range of products and services
+ Financial products and services offered
+ Credit products offered
Microcredit loans for microenterprises	1
Loans for education	1
Other credit products offered:	1
Int ps offerothercreditloanstext c	Wedding loans, home improvement loans , solar panel loans
+ Savings products offered
+ Compulsory insurance products required
Compulsory credit life insurance	1
+ Voluntary insurance products offered
Voluntary credit life insurance	1
+ Other financial products and services offered
Mobile banking services	1
+ Non-financial services offered
+ Enterprise services offered
Business development services	1
Other enterprise services offered:	1
Int ps nonfinsvcenterpriseothertext c	Marketing services through souk ayyadi and bazaars
+ Education services offered
Child and youth education	1
Occupational safety and health in the workplace education	1
+ Health services offered
Basic medical services	1
+ Women's empowerment services offered
+ Products and services targeting the poor
Products and services specifically designed to target the poor:	1 - Free medical days; 2 - School grants; 3 - Distribute foods for poor people on Ramadan
+ 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
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
Outreach to women
Client retention/drop-out rate
Portfolio quality
+ Social responsibility to the environment
This institution raises clients' awareness about environmental impacts
Tamweelcom offers a solar panel product as one of its financial services
+ Poverty measurement tools in use
Grameen Progress out of Poverty Index (PPI)