Inclusion [Social Ratings] today released a newly assigned Social Performance & Impact Rating (SPIR) on GM Bank of Luzon, Inc., a rural bank based in Cabanatuan City, the Philippines.
GM Bank of Luzon’s Social Mission is “to make a positive difference in people’s lives, especially in countryside communities, by providing easy access to innovative and socially relevant financial services in a commercially sustainable way.”
Inclusion [Social Ratings] assigned GM Bank of Luzon an SPIR rating grade of SPIR3-, following remote due diligence of the organization’s operations and interviews with customers and staff. An SPIR3 rating indicates that an organization’s infrastructure and processes are consistent with a good likelihood of operating in the best interests of its customers, that this is among its highest priorities and that it attempts to manage the risk of causing adverse effect to its customers and other stakeholders.
An SPIR3 rating is consistent with a financial institution that:
- adheres to good practices on most of the key SPIR factors;
- demonstrates that it has adequate information systems, internal controls and procedures relating to the information provided for the SPIR;
- maintains reasonable standards in terms of customer protection.
The “-” appended to the SPIR3 reflect the most negative range of that rating category.
Inclusion [Social Ratings]’s SPIR on GM Bank of Luzon is based on Inclusion [Social Ratings]’s Social Performance Rating Methodology. An SPIR measures social performance on a fifteen-point scale, in which SPIR1+ is the highest grade and SPIR5-, the lowest.
About Inclusion [Social Ratings]’s Social Performance & Impact Ratings
Inclusion [Social Ratings]’s SPIR is an independent analysis of the operations of a microfinance institution that helps stakeholders better understand how effective it is at translating its social mission into practice. Inclusion [Social Ratings] is a rating agency recognized by the Social Performance Task Force (SPTF) and is committed to support the mission of the SPTF by engaging with microfinance stakeholders to develop, disseminate and promote standards and good practices for social performance management and reporting, and by offering its SPIR, a comprehensive, global standard to measure social performance.
It also incorporates management interviews conducted in situ in the field and/or telephonically, and interviews with branch staff to assess the levels of financial performance that result from the activities of the organization.
A full Rating Report is also available for download from our website at here.
If you need further information on these ratings or about Inclusion [Social Ratings]’s other social performance ratings, please contact Santiago Arnaudin at sarnaudin@inclusionsocialratings.org.
