January 25, 2017, Pristina and Washington, DC – Today, FINCA Kosovo, the country’s largest microfinance organization, announced it received the Client Protection Certification by Smart Campaign. This official recognition required an in-depth, external review of all of FINCA Kosovo’s processes and policies. The positive results of this review reflect FINCA’s deep commitment to high ethical standards in the treatment of its clients. . This review was conducted on the basis of over 100 indicators and was completed in the shortest possible timeframe of six months. FINCA Kosovo joins a group of over 60 certified financial institutions, including FINCA Kyrgyzstan and FINCA Bank Georgia.

“The Certification from Smart Campaign reflects the deeply-held commitment of FINCA to treating clients fairly,” said Florin Lila, CEO of FINCA Kosovo. “We are honored that our progress in implementing client-centric standards and policies is being recognized.”

Smart Campaign is a global effort to embed a set of client-protection principles into the fabric of the microfinance industry. This Certification is awarded to financial organizations that institutionalize the Smart Campaign’s seven Client Protection Principles, which include: appropriate product design and delivery, prevention of over-indebtedness, transparency, responsible pricing, fair and respectful treatment of clients, privacy of client data, and mechanisms for complaint resolution.

FINCA has been serving individuals and small businesses in Kosovo for over 16 years. Lower-income customers can access responsible financial products across a 21-branch network, including individual loans, SME loans for rural and agricultural markets. Recently, FINCA Kosovo adopted an Agricultural Loan Appraiser, a tablet-based app that assesses creditworthiness of farmers and their households, designs loans to match clients’ cash flows, and strengthens decision-making based on state-of-the-art credit summaries.

Isabelle Barrès, Director of Smart Campaign, said, “Congratulations to FINCA Kosovo for pursuing the highest ethical standards and leading the sector in client protection. This certification sends a strong message to the people of Kosovo that FINCA is a responsible provider of financial services.”

To celebrate the award, FINCA Kosovo organized a reception in Pristina, gathering representatives of state institutions, banks, international organizations and embassies, microfinance institutions, Pristina municipality, clients, experts and civil society. On the occasion, Central Bank Governor Bedri Hamza said: “According to official statistical data, FINCA’s credit portfolio constitutes approximately 1/4 of the overall microfinance portfolio in Kosovo, which shows that FINCA has and continues to give an extraordinary contribution to Kosovo’s economic development. Mr Hamza also noted that client protection, which is a new field for banks, microfinance institutions and the Central Bank itself, is an ever-increasing challenge. In this regard, Mr Hamza stressed that progress has been notable, given that with well-educated and protected clients increase the quality, stability and level of credit payments.” CEO Florin Lila and Chairman of the Board of FINCA Kosovo Jeff Flowers presented how the Certificate was achieved, as well as latest developments and key successes of FINCA Kosovo in 2016