Viator Microcredit Azerbaijan LLC

Gross Loan Portfolio USD, 2010: 7.6 million

Number of active borrowers 2010: 13,358

Average loan balance per borrower USD, 2010: 566.6

Deposits USD, 2010: 0.0

Assets USD, 2010: 8.6 million

Number of depositors 2010: 0

Mission:

To help economically active, but poor people in western Azerbaijan increase their income through appropriate and sustainable microfinance services.

Background and Main Challenges:

Viator Micro Credit Azerbaijan LLC was founded as a "Small Business Developement" project under the Norwegian Humanitarian Enterprise (NHE) in 1999. In December 2002 the organization was registrated as a LLC and in September 2003 obtained a licence to conduct lending activities from the ... Read more

Address:

N. Narimanov str. 130

Ganja

2002

Azerbaijan

Phone:

(994 22) 57 66 88

Fax:

(994 22) 57 00 39

Email:

trond [dot] langen [at] viator-az [dot] org

Main Funding Sources:

Grants

Loans

Products and Services:

Loans

Looking for (Investment Types):

Loans in Local Currency

Capacity Building Grants

Loans in US$

% Operations Comprised by MF:

91 - 100

Date established:

Apr 29 1999

FYE:

31-Dec

Current Legal Status:

NBFI

Regulated:

yes

Social Performance Profile


+ Mission specifics
+ Target markets (ranked by importance)
Clients living in rural areas	1
Women	2
+ Development goals (ranked by importance)
Poverty reduction	1
Increased access to financial services	2
Growth of existing businesses	3
Employment generation	4
Development of start-up enterprises	5
+ Poverty targets
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
+ 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
Training programs
+ 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.)
+ 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)
+ 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
+ Poverty measurement tools in use

Partnerships

Current
Name	Relationship
AMFA	Network Affiliation
Crystal Clear Software, Ltd.	Vendor
Grameen Credit Agricole Microfinance Foundation	Funding
Kolibri Kapital ASA	Funding
Microfinanza Rating	Rating

MFI Report