20 August, 2017 Asian Credit Fund (ACF) was awarded Smart Campaign Certification for implementation of globally endorsed Client Protection Principles based on evaluation conducted by MicroFinanza Rating, a private and independent international rating agency, specialized in the inclusive finance sector. ACF is now one of 80 organizations worldwide and the third MFI in Kazakhstan that have successfully implemented Client Protection standards of total 7 principles and 99 indicators into entire operation of the organization.
Smart Campaign Certification is an independent, third party evaluation to publicly recognize financial institutions that meet adequate standards of care in how they treat clients. It enables financial institutions to demonstrate adherence to the microfinance industry’s Client Protection Principles and contributes to a more stable microfinance industry by encouraging practices that ensure prudent, transparent and respectful treatment of clients.
“Asian Credit Fund has been always keen on providing quality and affordable services to the people of Kazakhstan. SMART certification was done for the sake of even better serving our clients and employees. We trust our clients and we want to be trusted by our clients as responsible financial partner that protects its customers,” said Zhanna Zhakupova, Executive Director of ACF. We are very grateful to our business partners, Global Commercial Microfinance Consortium II B.V. and Sida (Swedish International Cooperation Development Agency who supported ACF’s certification by providing co-financing for this certification, added Zhanna.
The receipt of the Smart Campaign certificate demonstrates the ACF’s compliance with a set of standards that ensure proper development and provision of financial products, prevention of excessive debt, transparency, prudent pricing policies, fair and respectful attitude towards clients, confidentiality of client data, and complaints resolution mechanisms.