SPIR Announcement: ASA Microfinance Bank (Pakistan) Limited

Inclusion [Social Ratings] today released a newly assigned Social Performance & Impact Rating (SPIR) on ASA Microfinance Bank (Pakistan) Limited, a for-profit Microfinance Institution that is indirectly wholly owned by ASA International, one of the largest microfinance companies in the world.

ASA Microfinance Bank (Pakistan) Limited’s social mission is “Providing microfinance loans for business purpose to low-income entrepreneurs with the objective to improve financial inclusion and realize socio-economic progress. Our loans provide alternative to low-income entrepreneurs without access to credit from traditional banks. We provide the loans using the ASA Model.

Inclusion [Social Ratings] assigned ASA Microfinance Bank (Pakistan) an SPIR rating grade of SPIR2+, following on-site due diligence of the organization’s operations and interviews with customers and staff. A SPIR2+ rating indicates that an MFI’s infrastructure and processes are consistent with a high likelihood of operating in the best interests of its customers, that this is among its highest priorities and that the risk of causing adverse effect to its customers and other stakeholders is low. The “+” qualifier indicates that the MFI is at the highest level of that rating category.

An SPIR2+ rating is consistent with an MFI that:

  • coordinates strategic operations to accomplish its social mission;
  • adheres to best practice on almost all of the key SPIR factors;
  • demonstrates that it has reliable information systems, internal controls and procedures relating to the information provided for the SPIR;
  • maintains good standards in terms of customer over-indebtedness and debt collection practices.

Inclusion [Social Ratings]’s SPIR on ASA Microfinance Bank (Pakistan) 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.

A full Rating Report is also available for download from our website here.

If you need further information on these ratings or about Inclusion [Social Ratings]’s other social performance ratings, please contact Richard O. Wilson, Jr. at rwilson@inclusionsocialratings.org.