Bina Artha Ventura Receives Certification From The Smart Campaign

Bina Artha Ventura, an innovative pro-poor enterprise, is the latest partner of Opportunity International to receive certification by the Smart Campaign (http://smartcampaign.org/certification/certified-organizations#Bina-Artha-Ventura). Obtaining said certification (as of March 2017) signifies that Bina Artha Ventura is compliant to the highest standards of Client Protection Principles throughout its portfolio and service offering.
 
Operating in Indonesia, Bina Artha Ventura provides specialized financial services to low-income clients. The organization works with women who often have limited access to the formal financial sector and provides socioeconomic inclusion tools such as small business loans and insurance services.
 
The Smart Campaign is a global movement to unite microfinance leaders in client protection. Adherence to the Client Protection Principles enables institutions to build relationships and reduce financial risk, with the overarching goal of delivering transparent, respectful, and prudent microfinance services to those most in need.
 
Smart Campaign certification is an independent and third-party evaluated award, recognizing financial institutions that follow and demonstrate seven established standards with respect to client protection; product design, prevention of over-indebtedness, transparency, responsible pricing, fair and respectful treatment of clients, privacy of data and the availability of complaint resolution mechanisms.  
 
“The Smart Certification is an important achievement for Bina Artha and confirms our commitment to build a long-lasting relationship with our clients, based on transparency, respect and proper product offering,” stated Christian Banno, CEO and Director, Bina Artha Ventura. “Bina Artha strived since its inception to adopt international-recognized protection principles towards clients and the certification is the last milestone of our 5 year journey, aimed at strengthening our positioning as a client-centric institution and in doing so, facilitating the achievement of our vision of reaching 1 million families by 2020. The process of certification helped us relook at our policies and processes from the perspective of clients and undertake changes which will surely trigger better client satisfaction and improve the likeness of a positive impact of our financing on clients’ businesses, hence increasing retention and mitigating credit risk”. 
 
At present, this certification has only been issued by the Smart Campaign to 74 microfinance enterprises, out of approximately 10,000 within the sector.
 
“We are proud to confirm that this is Opportunity International’s fifth Smart Certified partner,” stated Calum Scott, Global Impact Director, Opportunity International. “This is a fantastic achievement on the part of Bina Artha Ventura; a true testament to the work of their team, and their commitment to serving the poor. We will continue to work with Smart Certified partners, and encourage other partners to become Smart Certified, so that we may promote the highest standards of client protection and microfinance services throughout our philanthropic endeavors”.
 
Bina Artha Ventura, http://www.bina-artha.net/
Opportunity International, http://opportunity.org
 
About Opportunity International
 
Opportunity International is a global non-profit organization that helps people in developing countries work their way out of poverty. Founded in 1971, the organization has provided more than $10 billion in loans to help clients launch and expand businesses, feed and educate their children and create jobs in their communities. At the end of 2015, more than 14 million clients in 24 countries across Africa, Asia, Latin America and Europe, were using an Opportunity International loan, savings account, insurance policy or training to improve their lives. Through microfinance and complementary products and services in education, agriculture and health, the organization has helped clients create or sustain 17 million jobs on its way to achieving its goal of 20 million jobs by 2020. More than 95 percent of Opportunity’s loan clients are women who would otherwise likely not have access to financial services because of legal and cultural gender inequities. The global headquarters of Opportunity International are in Chicago, with other key offices in Australia, Canada, Germany, Hong Kong, Singapore, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. The organization serves clients through a network of more than 20,000 people worldwide. Discover more: http://www.opportunity.org or join the conversation at facebook.com/opportunityintl and twitter.com/opportunityintl
 
 

Contact Information

Christina Koliopoulos

Vice President, Global Communications

Opportunity International

CKoliopoulos@opportunity.org