<p>Since 2008, <a href="https://mastercardfdn.org/">Mastercard Foundation</a> has supported several CFI initiatives, underscoring our shared commitment to building prosperity through financial inclusion and education, especially in Africa.</p>
<p><strong>The Smart Campaign</strong></p>
<p>Mastercard Foundation was an early sponsor of <a href="/about/what-we-do/the-smart-campaign/">the Smart Campaign</a>, a global initiative focused on creating an environment in which financial services are delivered safely and responsibly to low-income clients. The Foundation’s continuing support has been central to the Campaign’s progress, including its expansion into five focus countries in Africa, where it is addressing client protection and empowerment issues emerging from new technologies and seeking to affect change at a national level.</p>
<p><strong>Leadership Development in Financial Inclusion </strong></p>
<p>In addition, the Foundation has helped fund two innovative Accion programs for leadership development in financial inclusion. Over the course of a decade, scholarship funding from the Foundation allowed for more than 340 leaders from financial institutions around the world to participate in the annual <a href="/about/what-we-do/hbs-accion-program-on-strategic-leadership-in-inclusive-finance/">Harvard Business School-Accion Program on Strategic Leadership in Inclusive Finance</a>. This unique executive education opportunity brings professionals together to learn about the latest challenges and breakthroughs in financial inclusion and develop their problem-solving skills. The Foundation also supports the <a href="/about/what-we-do/africa-board-fellowship-program/">Africa Board Fellowship</a>, a peer learning and exchange program for executives and board members from African financial institutions that focuses on building capacity in governance and risk management. Nearly <a href="/governance-peer-learning-and-exchange-program-strengthens-financial-institutions-in-africa/">200 fellows from approximately 71 institutions</a> have taken part in the program to date. Learn more about <a href="https://www.accion.org/mastercard-foundation-and-accion-building-prosperity-through-financial-inclusion-and-education">Accion&#8217;s partnership with Mastercard Foundation</a>.</p>


Today there are close to 700 million mobile money accounts registered worldwide — a number that, if it were a population, would rank as the world’s third-largest country. East Africa continues to lead in digital financial innovations as well as account usage, with two-thirds of the combined adult populations of Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda actively using mobile money. With the proliferation of mobile financial services, particularly among underserved populations, it is vital that users be treated fairly and with dignity. In the momentum to define responsible digital finance and recognize providers of high-quality financial services, the industry must not forget the consumer.
<h1>Client Voices: Why We Listened</h1>
<a href="/about/what-we-do/the-smart-campaign/">The Smart Campaign</a>, a global initiative to create an environment in which financial services are delivered safely and responsibly to low-income clients, has long recognized that client perspectives are often underrepresented in consumer protection discussions. With the Client Voices Project, the Campaign questions whether the industry’s assumptions about what constitutes problematic treatment rightly reflect what clients themselves worry about.

The dual objectives of the project are to solicit input from low-income clients about what they consider good and bad treatment in their interactions with financial service providers and to assess the prevalence of consumer protection problems among these clients, using quantitative surveys. The project is designed to act as a catalyst for financial service providers, regulators, industry associations, consumer advocacy groups, and others to improve client protection in ways that are grounded in client feedback.
<h1>Major Findings</h1>
Based on a survey of over 1,200 people in three districts in Rwanda, this report delves into the experiences of individuals who use digital financial services (DFS), the main client protection issues they are concerned about, and the impact and prevalence of negative experiences. We find that mobile money enjoys a high degree of satisfaction and trust from clients in Rwanda, even though 40 percent of clients report being targeted by fraudulent schemes, which have become increasingly sophisticated.
<blockquote>Customers report wising up to scams and fraud, but with a continuous influx of new mobile money users and fraudsters who innovate quickly, the threat is real and constant. Fraud represents the greatest potential to damage customer trust and engagement with mobile money in Rwanda.</blockquote>
However, there are many ways that DFS operations and practices can be improved to better protect clients and strengthen trust. Client recourse mechanisms, for example, represent an important area for improvement: many clients shared that they feel helpless and unsure about what to do after realizing they have been duped. Additionally, for business models that rely more on the mobile interface than on human interaction, clients increasingly rely on agents for information and guidance. This presents an opportunity to provide better service, as well as a risk for poor client treatment.

We hope that providers, industry associations, support organizations, regulators, consumer protection advocates, and clients can benefit from these findings to create a stronger, more inclusive client protection ecosystem. We offer specific recommendations for many of these stakeholders.

Client Voices: Rwandans Speak on Digital Financial Services

Laterite Ltd

Mastercard Foundation

The Smart Campaign

Rwanda

Sub-Saharan Africa

Keeping Clients First

Agent Banking

Appropriate Product Design and Delivery

Client Treatment

Complaint Resolution

Consumer Protection

Credit

Credit Provision

Delivery Channels

Digital Credit

Digital Financial Services

Financial Service Providers

Mobile Banking

Payments

Privacy

Telcos

Underserved Groups

Report

<a href="http://about/what-we-do/the-smart-campaign/">The Smart Campaign</a>, in collaboration with <a href="http://www.sptf.info/">The Social Performance Task Force (SPTF)</a>, invites you to attend <strong>Inclusive Digital Future: A Summit on Responsible Finance</strong> <strong>in Action</strong> taking place in <strong>Nairobi, Kenya</strong> from <strong>June 25th to 27th, 2019</strong>.
<blockquote>How do we promote inclusion and trust in digital financial services while fostering innovation and growth?</blockquote>
Over the course of this three-day international forum—organized in partnership with <a href="https://www.microsave.net/">MSC</a> (MicroSave Consulting) and <a href="https://www.ada-microfinance.org/en/our-projects/fintech-digital-finance">ADA</a>— we will confront the most pressing financial inclusion question of the day: How do we promote inclusion and trust in digital financial services while fostering innovation and growth?

The gathering will bring together financial service providers, regulators, investors, and DFS experts for two days of trainings, panels, and interactive breakout discussions, capped off by a field visit to leading Kenyan institutions engaged in digital transformation.
<ul>
 	<li><strong>Day 1: </strong>An interactive training on how to create a digitalization strategy that includes social goals (led by MSC) and workshops introducing the fundamentals of responsible inclusive finance and regulatory approaches to consumer protection in the digital era.</li>
 	<li><strong>Day 2: </strong>A full day of plenary discussion and breakout sessions on responsible digital finance in action, identifying practical ways stakeholders can advance inclusion and foster consumer confidence in digital products.</li>
 	<li><strong>Day 3: </strong>Join us on local site visits to interact with and learn from Kenyan institutions that serve as models for inclusive digital transformation.</li>
</ul>
More information, including detailed agenda, registration and travel/logistics details are available on SPTF's <a href="https://sptf.info/annual-meetings/2019-summit-inclusive-digital-future">Inclusive Digital Future page</a>.

<em>This event is supported by Mastercard Foundation and the Government of Luxembourg.</em>

Inclusive Digital Future: A Summit on Responsible Finance in Action

ADA absi

Luxembourg Aid &amp; Development

MicoSave Consulting

Social Performance Task Force

Kenya

Responsible Digital Finance

Social Performance

Event

<h1>Challenge</h1>
Financial inclusion means different things to different people. Today’s marketplace represents a wide array of providers with varying interests. Some focus on access to bank accounts, while others build electronic payments infrastructure, and still others develop credit services or insurance. With significant resources invested to expand financial services to low-income, first-time and underserved consumers, the importance of ensuring that newly included people actually benefit from the services cannot be underestimated. To be effective, the financial inclusion community needs alignment and direction about how to tackle a big challenge—too big for any one entity to solve.
<h1>Approach</h1>
CFI approached this challenge by building communities of support and action around a progressive agenda for global financial inclusion:
<h3>Agenda Setting</h3>
We articulated a vision for financial inclusion that includes service range, quality, affordability, convenience, consumer protection and empowerment. We understand what meaningful financial inclusion looks like, and our agenda reflects that.
<h3>Community Building</h3>
We know that constructing a financial inclusion community that serves, protects and empowers customers requires the combined efforts of many actors. We add value to the sector by bringing people together, building consensus and enhancing the industry’s collective knowledge and skills.
<h3>Delivering Insights</h3>
We investigate big, unanswered questions that can catalyze the industry to meet the financial needs of underserved people around the world.
<h1>Results</h1>

Setting an Agenda for Global Financial Inclusion

Citi Foundation

Credit Suisse

MetLife Foundation

Rockefeller Foundation

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

Impact Investing

Case Study

<h1>Challenge</h1>
In emerging markets across Africa, microfinance institutions (MFIs) and other financial service providers (FSPs) play a critical role providing financial services to people who are unable to obtain traditional finance. Despite its important role, this sector in Africa faces enormous challenges. In 2013, our <a href="https://www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/microfinance-banana-skins-2014-the-csfi-survey-of-microfinance-risk/">survey of African FSPs</a> revealed governance and risk management as the primary vulnerabilities in the sector. Weak governance and risky behavior also <a href="http://www.cgap.org/publications/growth-and-vulnerabilities-microfinance">played a role in microfinance crises</a> in Nicaragua, Morocco, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Pakistan. CFI decided to commit to helping African FSPs focus on governance and risk—and not just individually, but at a sectoral level—to avoid this fate.
<h1>Navigating Obstacles</h1>
We quickly realized we would be starting nearly from scratch. The handful of existing governance resources on the market at the time comprised generic, one-off trainings or were geared to corporate participants. We knew that this kind of classroom-based, lecture-heavy, training was not an effective strategy for senior board members, whose time was valuable and who were often in positions of authority in other walks of life.

We wanted to create something meaningful and effective, tailor-made for FSPs, and delivered in a manner that would stick with participants so that they could lead their organizations and their industry to grow and prosper.

&nbsp;

Governance Peer Learning and Exchange Program Strengthens Financial Institutions in Africa

Africa Board Fellowship Program

Challenges and Crises

Governance

Microfinance Institutions

Risk Management

Trends

All over the world, small loans to individuals and very small businesses are increasingly made using digital channels, whether online, via a mobile device or through an agent. However, trust, confidence and responsible lending practices need to be in place to ensure this industry is successful and its customers are protected and empowered.

In <a href="storage/Responsible_Digital_Credit_FINAL_2018.07.18.pdf"><em>Responsible Digital Credit</em></a>, CFI Fellow John Owens outlines the digital credit landscape and the risks customers face, and examines the best practices, standards and initiatives that exist or should be implemented to improve consumer protection in digital lending. Ultimately, John argues, it will take a village to ensure that digital credit clients are protected<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'Calibri', sans-serif;">—</span>including govenrments, regulators, industry players, advocates and consumers themsleves. He sees three key activities: 1) industry self-regulation, 2) certification of digital credit providers, and 3) directly empowering consumers, as key to the future of what responsible digital credit looks like.

This report is published jointly with the <a href="http://www.smartcampaign.org/">Smart Campaign</a> and was made possible by support from Mastercard Foundation and other partners.

&nbsp;

Responsible Digital Credit

CFI Research Fellows Program

Very small instant consumer loans have ballooned from 11 deployments in 2011, to 52 in 2016, with a particular concentration in East Africa. In just a few years, through models such as M-Shwari, M-Pawa, Tala and Airtel Money, tens of millions of people have borrowed tiny amounts over their phones. These services represent an enormous increase in formal financial inclusion. They address a fundamental consumer need previously unavailable to lower income people from the formal financial system: the need for very short term money management tools to cope with income and expense volatility. While they are in many ways a boon, they also contain, and in some cases heighten, risks for their users.

This Brief enumerates and discusses emerging consumer risks posed by these products, using the Client Protection Principles as an organizing framework. We hope this lens will assist the mobile financial sector to articulate and build a consensus about responsible practices in mobile finance.

&nbsp;

Tiny Loans Big Questions: Client Protection in Mobile Consumer Credit

Agence Francaise de Developpement

Fintechs

Nano Loans

Over-indebtedness

<span class="wf_file"><span class="wf_file_text"><span style="font-family: Arial"><strong>Washington, D.C. (November 1, 2016)</strong> — The Center for Financial Inclusion (CFI) at Accion announced today a $4.4 million, three-year partnership with The MasterCard Foundation to tackle the challenges facing consumer finance in an increasingly digital world</span></span></span>

Smart Campaign and The MasterCard Foundation in Partnership to Advance Consumer Protection in Financial Services

Press Release

<em>&gt; Posted by Karin Malmberg, PIIF Manager, PRI</em>

<img class="alignright size-medium wp-image-16990" src="https://centerforfinancialinclusionblog.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/calculator-385506_640.jpg?w=300" alt="" width="300" height="177" />How do institutional investors in inclusive finance ensure that their investee institutions manage their social as well as financial performance? How do these investors contribute to the sustainable growth of the industry? And, perhaps most importantly how do they ensure that end clients are fairly treated and adequately protected?

The <a href="http://2xjmlj8428u1a2k5o34l1m71.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/PRI_Report-on-Progress_in-Inclusive-Finance_2014.pdf"><em>Report on Progress in Inclusive Finance 2014</em></a> by the Principles for Investors in Inclusive Finance (PIIF) Initiative addresses these questions, analyzing data submitted by inclusive finance investors on their responsible investment practices.

The results are encouraging. Fund managers and other investors investing directly into retail institutions look at responsible finance issues at the selection stage of the investment process. For example, 94 percent measure and include the social performance of retail institutions alongside financial criteria when making investment decisions, and 90 percent include client protection measures in their investment policies.

However, these figures drop when we look at improving performance in these areas. The <a href="http://smartcampaign.org/about/smart-microfinance-and-the-client-protection-principles" target="_blank">Client Protection Principles</a> are universally accepted among investors but fewer encourage implementation by retail institutions. For instance, 63 percent systematically include client protection in covenants in loan agreements or in shareholder agreements. Fewer than half incentivize investee retail institutions to track social performance. Additionally, few investors encourage their investees to take part in collaborative industry initiatives, with the exception of the Smart Campaign.

The path from microcredit to full financial inclusion is another area for improvement. While the majority say that they support the provision of services beyond microcredit, only 50 percent collect data on whether voluntary savings products are provided by investee retail institutions, and 33 percent on whether voluntary insurance products are provided.

The governance of retail institutions was highlighted recently by the Center for Financial Inclusion and The MasterCard Foundation as they launched the <a href="http://www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/programs-a-projects/abf" target="_blank">Africa Board Fellowship program</a> for board members and CEOs of microfinance institutions. This, too, is an area where investors have a role to play. The PIIF data shows that 85 percent assess the board composition of investee retail institutions at the pre-investment stage, and 73 percent assess board compensation. These figures drop at the post-investment stage however.

For more detail on investors approaches to these areas and others, such as fair treatment and transparency, download the full report <a href="http://2xjmlj8428u1a2k5o34l1m71.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/PRI_Report-on-Progress_in-Inclusive-Finance_2014.pdf">here</a>.

We invite investors and other stakeholders to use this report and the individual <a href="http://www.unpri.org/areas-of-work/implementation-support/piif/piif-signatories/">Transparency Reports</a> which detail the responses of each participating investor, to learn about what their clients, intermediaries, and peers are doing.

We also encourage more investors to use the <a href="http://www.unpri.org/piif">PIIF</a> and accompanying reporting framework and assessment to evaluate their own practices and demonstrate their progress to the industry.

<em>The <a href="http://www.unpri.org/piif">Principles for Investors in Inclusive Finance (PIIF)</a> </em><em>were developed by investors and provide guidance on how to address these questions. The PIIF were launched in 2011 and currently have 50 signatories including pension funds, insurance companies, development finance institutions, foundations, and fund managers. The PIIF are hosted and managed by the <a href="http://www.unpri.org" target="_blank">Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) Initiative</a>.</em>

<strong>Have you read?</strong>

<a href="http://cfi-blog.org/2014/06/18/impact-investing-landscape-trends-to-watch/" target="_blank">Impact Investing Landscape: Trends to Watch</a>

<a href="http://cfi-blog.org/2014/02/11/the-business-case-for-investing-in-financial-inclusion/" target="_blank">The Business Case for Investing in Financial Inclusion</a>

<a href="http://cfi-blog.org/2014/02/10/microfinance-equity-investing-different-context-similar-issues/" target="_blank">Microfinance Equity Investing: Different Context, Similar Issues</a>

How Responsible Are Investors in Inclusive Finance?

Insurance

Microfinance

Responsible Investing

Social Impact Metrics

Transparency

Blog Post

Fifteen years ago in the microfinance space you may have been able to get away with understanding very little about your clients. Without much competition, MFIs could probably still make a decent profit by offering one product to all their clients using only one delivery channel. Thankfully, those days are gone.

The base of the pyramid is no longer a hidden or forgotten market segment. In fact, according to the recently-released <a href="http://centerforfinancialinclusionblog.files.wordpress.com/2014/07/2014_microfinance_banana_skins.pdf">2014 Microfinance Banana Skins</a> report, the pendulum is swinging in the opposite direction. Overindebtedness once again tops the charts as the biggest perceived risk, perhaps indicating that many clients are now able to gain access to multiple services providers. In some areas, an excess of providers may now be crowding the market.

Having just returned from the MasterCard Foundation <a href="http://mastercardfdnsymposium.org/">Symposium on Financial Inclusion</a> in Turin, the clear takeaway was that financial inclusion providers need to deeply understand their clients’ needs in order to survive. There are new providers (e.g. mobile network providers, like <a href="http://www.safaricom.co.ke/">Safaricom</a> in Kenya) and disruptive business models/delivery channels (e.g. crowdfunding, the mobile-based savings coach of <a href="http://ahorrandojuntos.com/">Juntos</a>, the mobile banking services of <a href="http://www.bkash.com/">bKash</a>) that are game-changing in the financial inclusion space. There are also a number of organizations (e.g. <a href="http://ideas42.org/">ideas42</a>, <a href="http://bankablefrontier.com/">Bankable Frontier Associates</a>, <a href="http://bankableanalytics.com/">Bankable</a>) who are effectively using data and behavioral science to provide important insights into client segments and behavior.

Given the increased competition and diverse group of providers and products racing to serve the base of the pyramid, I predict that the service providers who will survive in the future will be those who know their clients’ needs well and have an effective (cost and time) and value-based service. These factors will help allow the best providers to reach scale in a sustainable manner. Understanding your client can’t be a peripheral business function that is done once or as an infrequent “add-on.” Knowing clients needs to be an ongoing process as their needs and wants change frequently.
<blockquote>Business models therefore also need to be nimble and solutions-based.</blockquote>
The financial inclusion industry has grown up a lot, which is a good thing. It means the case has been made that the base of the pyramid is a viable client segment worth the time and effort to service. More providers/competition will ultimately lead to better and more cost effective products and services (given the necessary industry safeguards are put in place, of course). As is often true as markets develop, I think the days of MFIs actively collaborating to share client data, knowledge, and research that were longingly mentioned at the symposium are fading. Information that provides insights into client behavior or needs is quickly becoming a huge competitive advantage. I believe it will become less important whether service providers have a stated social mission and more important that they are client-centric in the very core of their business operations. May the best and most client-focused providers prevail!

<em>Image credit: <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/michaelfoleyphotography/4369888189/in/set-72157627015513349" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Michael Foley</a></em>

<strong>Have you read?</strong>

<a href="http://cfi-blog.org/2014/04/29/the-great-equalizer-how-advances-in-big-data-allow-tech-savvy-start-ups-to-compete-with-the-major-players-in-east-africa/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Great Equalizer: How Advances in "Big Data" Allow Tech-Savvy Start-Ups to Compete with the Major Players in East Africa</a>

<a href="http://cfi-blog.org/2014/02/27/approval-pending-a-challenge-to-m-pesas-mobile-money-dominance-in-kenya/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Approval Pending: A Challenge to M-Pesa's Mobile Money Dominance in Kenya</a>

<a href="http://cfi-blog.org/2013/12/04/what-will-you-do-to-make-financial-inclusion-a-reality-by-2020/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">What Will You Do to Make Financial Inclusion a Reality by 2020?</a>

Understand Your Clients – or Good Luck Amongst the Competition

Mastercard

Alternative Data

Crowdfunding

Customer Centricity

<em><img class="alignright" style="border: 0" src="http://centerforfinancialinclusionblog.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/disc-meter.jpg?w=300&amp;h=174" alt="" width="300" height="174" />&gt; Posted by Center Staff</em>

This edition of top picks features posts on how to effectively deploy new technologies to the base of the pyramid, the increasing prominence of mobile savings and credit services, and the growing potential for impact investing in microinsurance.

How can innovative technologies be distributed and adopted at scale in the last mile? Tomohiro Hamakawa of <a href="http://kopernik.info/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kopernik </a>addresses this question in a <a href="http://nextbillion.net/blogpost.aspx?blogid=3974">new post</a> on Next Billion. Drawing from a recent Kopernik report, Hamakawa expounds on five key factors to serve as guiding principles in the roll-out of empowering technologies to the BoP: activating a local network of trust; lowering financial barriers; riding the technology adoption wave; focusing on tangible benefits; and staying engaged, showing commitment.

Writing from the MasterCard Foundation Symposium on Financial Inclusion, GSMA’s Arunjay Katakam, acknowledging the event's attention on mobile credit and savings services, examines some of the different mobile outfits that have launched in recent years. <a href="http://www.gsma.com/mobilefordevelopment/mobile-credit-and-savings-services-gaining-traction-using-different-models">The post</a>, published on GSMA's Mobile Money for the Unbanked Blog, discusses the services providers in terms of three different models: the mass-market short-term loans approach, such as that of M-Shwari; the traditional microfinance institution approach, like that of Musoni; and the outlying organizations that approach their business models in a wholly unique way - for example, Kopo Kopo Grow.

A growing client base and services innovations are creating new investment opportunities in the microinsurance sector, but there remain few investing in the space. Those are some of the main messages from a <a href="http://www.cgap.org/blog/microinsurance-next-generation-impact-investments" target="_blank" rel="noopener">new post</a> on the CGAP Blog. The post discusses the potential of microinsurance as a growing investment class, the difficulties in investing in this perceived-to-be “niche” market, and recommendations for impact investors. Challenges considered, the post's authors believe that investing in microinsurance has big potential, as evidenced by the post’s title: "Microinsurance: the Next Generation of Impact Investments."

<em>Image credit: <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Iainf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ianf</a></em>

&nbsp;

Technology Roll-Out, Mobile Savings and Credit, Investing in Microinsurance – Top Picks of the Microfinance Blogosphere

Saving

Alexandra Rizzi

Danielle Piskadlo

Elisabeth Rhyne

Isabelle Barrès

John Owens

Smart Certification

The majority of Kenyans have mobile money accounts; their activity demonstrates digital financial services’ potential. Accion helps Kenyan innovators harness emerging technologies to create new financial services.

Karin Malmberg

<em><a href="http://smartcampaign.org/certification" target="_blank" rel="attachment wp-att-10074"><img class="alignright  wp-image-10074" style="border:0" alt="Client Protection Certification seal" src="http://centerforfinancialinclusionblog.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/seal_new.jpg" width="230" /></a>&gt; Posted by the Smart Campaign</em>

We’re excited to announce a new beginning in our work with <a href="http://www.mastercardfdn.org/" target="_blank">the MasterCard Foundation</a> to ensure the protection of clients throughout the microfinance industry. The MasterCard Foundation will be teaming up with the campaign for a $4.3 million partnership to support the recently launched <a href="http://smartcampaign.org/certification" target="_blank">Client Protection Certification Program</a>.

The team will work together to implement a wide range of activities related to client protection, including developing training materials and other tools, conducting research and assessments of financial institutions, and capacity building. This new beginning builds off previous collaboration, as the MasterCard Foundation has been an essential partner to the campaign for the past several years.

<em>For more information, check out the <a href="http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-mastercard-foundation-announces-43-million-partnership-with-the-smart-campaign-to-strengthen-client-protection-in-microfinance-193809121.html" target="_blank">press release</a>. </em>

<strong>Have you read?</strong>

<a href="http://cfi-blog.org/2013/02/14/how-client-protection-certification-and-ratings-work-together/" target="_blank">How Client Protection Certifications and Ratings Work Together</a>

<a href="http://cfi-blog.org/2013/01/28/microfinance-ceos-smart-campaign-certification-is-a-clear-step-toward-responsible-microfinance/" target="_blank">Microfinance CEOs: Smart Campaign Certification is a Clear Step Toward Responsible Microfinance</a>

<a href="http://cfi-blog.org/2013/01/24/announcing-the-launch-of-the-client-protection-certification-program/" target="_blank">Announcing the Launch of the Client Protection Certification Program</a>

The MasterCard Foundation to Support Certification and the Next Chapter of the Smart Campaign