Strengthening Financial Inclusion Through Responsible Finance Practices

The Private Sector Financial Institutions Division of the Private Sector Operations Department will coordinate the TA. The required areas of expertise for the international and national experts include financial education, microfinance, governance, institutional strengthening, risk management, consumer protection, and training. The TOR is based on initial assessment by our partners, but will be further fine-tuned after rapid assessment of the participating microfinance institution (MFI).

Access to finance is often cited as one of the primary obstacles for micro and small enterprises. Institutions targeting this market segment are mostly only microfinance institutions. Across Asia and the Pacific, many of these institutions also struggle to obtain commercial funding for growth and to be able to meet demands of their clients. The Microfinance Program of ADB’s Private Sector Operations Department was therefore designed to address the financing gaps. It encourages private sector participation to ensure local currency lending to the sector.

MFI Consumer Protection

The objective is to build and improve the capacity of at least 10 selected partner MFIs on consumer protection and social performance measurement issues, in line with local regulatory or association requirements, such as e.g. RBI Fair Practices Code. The expected outcome is that at least 10 MFIs have integrated consumer protection principles in their operations, also addressing gender aspects:

  • Create awareness and understanding of participating MFIs on the importance of consumer protection principles in relation to e.g. transparency, relationship management, treating customers well, avoiding overindebtedness
  • Assess MFIs’ readiness to comply with consumer protection principles of the Reserve Bank of India’s Fair Practice Code,1 and identify gaps that need improvement, including gender aspects
  • Support the MFIs to draft policies and guidelines to implement consumer protection principles in the institution
  • Implement monitoring processes to ensure principles are followed
  • Train staff on relationship management related to consumer protection principles

The input will require conducting a series of workshops together with MFIN (as a follow on to ADB’s assistance to consumer protection in Feb. 2016). These workshops can be attended by a broader range of ADB partners under the microfinance program.

Qualifications: 
  • Experience of at least ten year in dealing with issues of consumer protection, fair practice codes for the financial services industry, preferably gained at a local industry standard-setting body or a specialized entity
  • Experience of at least five years of implementation of consumer protection principles in the microfinance industry, including practical experience to develop relevant policies, guidelines and standards at the operations level
  • Experience as trainer
  • Ability to work with multiple stakeholders, including civil society, government, community organizations, private sector, and donor agencies
  • Excellent English language skills
  • Secondary degree in relevant field
Start / Duration: 

open, 3 person-month, intermittent

If you are interested in this position, please send your most recent CV to

Sigitas.Bubnys [at] afci.de

Thank you! Please note that only shortlisted experts will be contacted