Responsible Inclusive Finance Facility in Central America and Caribbean (RIFF-CAC)

Responsible Inclusive Finance Facility in Central America and Caribbean (RIFF-CAC)

Application Form

Smart Certification and/or Social Rating

Overview

Background information: The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and the European Investment Bank (EIB) fund the Responsible Inclusive Finance Facility in Central America and Caribbean (RIFF-CAC or FFRI-CAC in Spanish), which launched operations in November 2017 and is working to build capacity and improve practice in social performance management (SPM) in Central America and the Caribbean. The Social Performance Task Force (SPTF) is managing the RIFF-CAC, in collaboration with REDCAMIF. One type of funding that the RIFF-CAC offers is co-financing to financial service providers (FSPs) who would like get a Smart CampaignClient Protection Certification and/or have a social rating. See below for a description of these activities.

Deciding whether to do only a Smart Certification, only a Social Rating, or both

You may choose to apply only for a Smart Certification, only for a social rating, or both. RIFF-CAC encourages you to read the descriptions of Smart Certificationand social ratings below, to help inform your decision. Please note that, because most of the groundwork required to assess a financial institution’s client protection practices is done during a rating, it is substantially cheaper to obtain Smart Certification as an add-on module to a social rating, rather than for your institution to a do Smart Certification and a social rating at two separate times.

Overview of a Smart Certification

Description of Smart Certification: A Smart certification is an independent, third-party evaluation to publicly recognize financial institutions that meet adequate standards of care to implement all of the Client Protection Principles throughout their operations, product offerings, and treatment of clients. Those principles are:

Appropriate product design and delivery
Prevention of over-indebtedness
Transparency
Responsible pricing
Fair and respectful treatment of clients, staff ethics, and non-discrimination
Privacy of client data
Mechanisms for complaints resolution

The Certification program was developed through several years of industry collaboration and input, managed by the Smart Campaign. To be certified, a financial institution needs to comply with the indicators corresponding to the 30 adequate standards of care for client protection.A financial institution will be evaluated through a streamlined desk review and on-site due diligence process that will include staff and client interviews and feedback. Financial institutions will be asked to share key documents with the Certification team. Fieldwork will be scheduled only if the financial institution has submitted all the required information and is responsive to the certifiers’ questions.

To get ready for a Certification, the Smart Campaign recommends that your institution conduct an internal review of its own practices against the Certification standards, which are publicly available on the Smart Campaign website ( Getting Started Questionnaire ( tool is a good starting point for this purpose. If your institution needs to upgrade its practices before trying for a Certification, it may wish to obtain an assessment from one of the trained, accredited assessors ( apply one of the Smart Campaign tools (

Organizations passing all the required standards will be able to describe themselves as Certified and will be listed on the Smart Campaign website. Organizations not passing will be kept confidential, allowed to try again, and, if desired, the Certification team will advise them on steps to improve their practices.

Eligibility for Smart Certification: Retail financial institutions that provide services to the lower segments of the market and/or financially excluded populations are eligible for client protection certification. This includes institutions of any legal form: bank, finance company, NGO, credit union, etc.
Time required for a Smart Certification: The document review typicallytakes two analysts two to four days.The field review typically takes four to five days. Several weeks after the field mission, the Certifier will share his/her determination with the financial institution on whether the institution has passed or failed.
Licensed certifiers: The Smart Campaign has licensed specialized rating agencies to conduct Smart Certifications. These agencies are M-Cril, MicroFinanza Rating, MicroRate y Inclusion [Social Ratings]. (See Annex 2 for details)
Cost. The exact cost of Certification will vary by location and is a matter of negotiation between the licensed certifier and the requesting organization. Previous experience indicates, however, that the cost is unlikely to exceed US$18,000. Once you and your licensed certifier determine the exact cost for your particular institution's Certification, you will submit that budget to the RIFF-CAC along with this application. The RIFF-CAC will co-finance 50% of this cost.
RIFF-CAC procedure to disburse co-financing grant: The RIFF-CAC will not disburse the co-financing grant to an institution on the date when its application is approved. Instead, it will wait until the institution begins paying for, or using in-kind contribution to implement, its 50% share of the cost. This is to avoid problems that might occur if the RIFF-CAC contributes 50% but the financial institution is ultimately not able to contribute its 50% share of the cost. Additionally, RIFF-CAC will pay third-party vendors directly. This means that a portion, or all, of the co-financing may be paid directly to a third party instead of deposited in the account of the institution. In cases where it is not possible for the RIFF-CAC to pay third-party vendors directly, the institution may pay those vendors directly and then submit receipts to the RIFF-CAC for reimbursement.
Length of time that a Certification is valid: Certification is valid for two years, and only during that time will an organization be able to describe itself publicly as “Smart-Certified." After this, a new Certification would be obtained by the financial institution.
Difference between a Smart assessment and a Smart Certification: The assessment is a diagnostic tool that institutions use to analyze their implementation of the Client Protection Principles, identify strengths and weaknesses, and take steps to improve accordingly. Certifications are a way to demonstrate the institution's achievement of adequate client protection practices to external audiences. Financial institutions will use the certification results to market their organization as a pro-client institution to their investors, clients, funders, regulators and the general public. Investors and donors will use the certification results to inform their investment and funding decisions. Some investors will require certification during a reasonable time prior to or after the investment.
Language: The specialized rating agencies are able to conduct Smart Certifications in a wide variety of languages. This application form will ask you for your preferred language.
Certification start date: To be determined. The questions below in this application form ask you for your preferred start date to get certified, and also to describe any time constraints you have. The RIFF-CAC will review applications and do its best to make grants at a time that fits your schedule.
Deadline to submit application: None. RIFF-CAC accepts applications on a rolling basis.

To learn more about Smart certifications, please visit the FAQ page on the Smart Campaign website:

Overview of a Social Rating

Description of a social rating: Social ratings are conducted by a specialized rating agency and provide an objective opinion of a financial service provider’s degree of success in translating its mission into practice. To reach that opinion, raters analyze the institution's country context, social performance management, client protection, depth of outreach, quality of services, and outcomes.

Social Ratings are carried out by rating agency analysts who have social performance experience and skills. A team of two analysts conduct the rating visit to the institution. Documents are collected from the institution in advance. In the field, the team conducts interviews with board members, senior and middle managers at the head office, andbranch managers, field staff, and some client at selected branches.

The audiences for social ratings are external. The rater does not provide recommendations for improving practice, but reviews documents and assigns a rating based on its findings. One important use for Social Ratings is to verify data that were self-reported to MIX Market. A good rating may also attract interest from investors and donors.

The social rating is a valuable tool for a financial institution for many reasons. It identifies whether the financial institution has the systems in place to achieve it social mission. It benchmarks the institution’s performance within the sector. Additionally, it helps increase the efficiency of the investment process, by providing objective information to investors on the social performance risk profile of potential investees, as well as providing benchmarking of the social and operational performance of financial institutions to facilitate a comparison among institutions.

Duration: The visit to the financial institution takes four to five working days, depending on the size of the institution and the complexity of its operations. The working days include visits to branch offices, operations in the field and client interaction. When a client survey or focus group discussions are included, the time is increased by 3-4 days on average. The visit to the institution concludes with a debriefing to top management or board members. The field work is followed by a draft report which is submitted to the institution for comment. The report is finalized by the rating agency.
Eligibility: All financial service providers are welcome to apply. Institutions interested in a social rating may be responsible inclusive finance institutions or mainstream financial institutions that are dedicated to ensuring social responsibility to clients, staff, the community and environment.
Language: The specialized rating agencies are able to conduct ratings in a wide variety of languages. The reporting you do to the RIFF-CAC on your rating must occur in Spanish, English, or Frenc. This application form will ask you for your preferred language.
Cost: The exact cost of a social rating will vary by location and is a matter of negotiation between the rating agency and the requesting organization. Previous experience indicates, however, that the cost is unlikely to exceed US$18,000. Once you and your licensed certifier determine the exact cost for your particular institution's certification, you will submit that budget to the RIFF-CAC along with this application. The RIFF-CAC will co-finance 50% of this cost.
RIFF-CAC procedure to disburse co-financing grant: The RIFF-CAC will not disburse the co-financing grant to an institution on the date when its application is approved. Instead, it will wait until the institution begins paying for, or using in-kind contribution to implement, its 50% share of the cost. This is to avoid problems that might occur if the RIFF-CAC contributes 50% but the financial institution is ultimately not able to contribute its 50% share of the cost. Additionally, RIFF-CAC will pay third-party vendors directly. This means that a portion, or all, of the co-financing may be paid directly to a third party instead of deposited in the account of the institution. In cases where it is not possible for the RIFF-CAC to pay third-party vendors directly, the institution may pay those vendors directly and then submit receipts to the RIFF-CAC for reimbursement.
Social rating start date: To be determined. The questions below in this application form ask you for your preferred start date to obtain a social rating, and also to describe any time constraints you have. The RIFF-CAC will review applications and do its best to make grants at a time that fits your schedule.
Rating agencies: There are four social rating agencies: M-CRIL, MicroFinanza Rating, MicroRate, and Inclusion [Social Ratings].M-CRIL, MicroFinanza and MicroRate each offer the Social Rating, which examines a financial service provider’s country context, social performance management, social responsibility, depth of outreach and outcomes. Inclusion [Africa], a subsidiary of Inclusion [Social Ratings], provides a Social Performance Rating (SPR), which uses a proprietary analytic methodology but has similar objectives to the Social Rating: to analyze the infrastructure and processes an FSPs has in place to achieve its social objectives and provide a globally comparable assessment grade. The Social Rating and the SPR are eligible for co-financing from the RIFF-CAC. To learn more about the rating agencies, please click on this document link.
Deadline to submit application: None. RIFF-CAC accepts applications on a rolling basis.

Questions for the Applicant

Please provide the following information about yourself:
First name:
Last name:
Email address:
Skype name (optional):
Phone number, with country code (optional):
Country of residence:
What is your preferred language to work in (please answer Spanish, English, French)?
How many years have you worked in the responsible inclusive finance sector?
Briefly describe your responsibilities at your current job (1-2 sentences):
Please provide the following information about the institution you work for:
Name of your institution:
Country(ies) where your institution works:
Please list all networks or associations of which your institution is a member:
Organizational Information. Please submit information on your institution to the RIFF-CAC in any one of the following formats:
Did your institution report to MIX last year? If yes, please submit the data you reported to MIX.
Has your institution filled out a Factsheet/MICROFACT? If yes, please submit the Factsheet.
Has your institution filled out the SPI4? If yes, please submit the information from the Organizational Information page of the SPI4.
Did your organization receive a social rating last year? If yes, please submit the report you received from the rating agency.
Have any of your investors asked you to provide them with information on your institution that answers the questions listed below? If yes, you may submit the information you sent to your investor.
If you do not have any of the above available to submit to the RIFF-CAC, please answer the questions listed below:
What is the legal structure of your organization (e.g., NGO, NBFI, bank)?:
In what year was your institution founded?:
What is your institution's mission?
How many open savings accounts does your institution have?:
How many active borrowers does your institution have? [NB: "active borrower" = borrower with at least one outstanding loan]:
Products and services. Please list all types of products and services that your institution offers:
Social data: Have you reported data on social performance indicators to the MIX for the past year? If yes, please submit those data. If your institution also collects data on social indicators different from those monitored by MIX, please submit your data on these additional indicators from the past year as well. Write "not applicable" below if your institution does not collect social data.
Are you applying for co-financing for a Smart Certification, for a social rating, or for both?
Reason for your interest. Explain why your institution would like to have certification and/or social rating:
If you are applying for a social rating only, this question does not apply to you and you can write "not applicable" below. If you are interested in a Smart certification, please read the sentence below and write your initials after it to confirm your understanding and agreement:
I commit to making adequate internal resources available, both during the process and if needed in progress phase (see Annex I for details on what happens if your organization does not initially achieve certification), to make best efforts to get certified. [your initials]
Persons responsible. Who at the financial institution will participate in the Smart Certification and/or social rating? Define each person's responsibilities related to this project.
Prior SPM assessments. Has your institution ever done an assessment of its client protection and/or SPM practices? If yes, please describe what type of assessment, in what year it happened, and who conducted the assessment.[1]
Experience with SPM. To the best of your knowledge, please describe what SPM training or experience with implementation of SPM that your institution has had in the last three years.
Demonstrate preparedness. Explain why you feel confident that your organization is ready for a Certification and/or rating:
Start date. When would you like to begin your Smart certification and/or social rating? Please indicate your preferred month(s) and year:
Availability. Are there any weeks or months in the upcoming twelve months when you would NOT be available to participate in a Smart certification and/or social rating? Please explain:
General financial information. Please submit, along with your completed application form, copies of your institution's income statements and balance sheets for the past three years. If this will not be possible, please explain why:
Adverse conditions: a) Declare whether any lawsuits are pending against you; b) Declare whether you are in bankruptcy or in severe financial difficulty (defined as, not confident you can remain operational for at least the next twelve months); c) Are there any external conditions in your operation environment (e.g., political unrest) that threaten to disrupt your operations?
Budget. Along with this completed application form, please submit an itemized estimated budget for your Smart Certification and/or social rating.
Declaration of ability to co-finance. Explain specifically which funds or resources your institution will use to pay its share of the overall cost. Note that in-kind contributions are permissible.
External vendor. Whom do you propose to hire to do the Certification and/or social rating? See for a list ofthe ratings agencies licensed to do a Certification. See Annex II for a list of qualified social rating agencies and their contact information. [NB: It is your responsibility to contact them to ask for their rates and availability, and to identify times when they know they would be unavailable. When you submit this application, please also submit a letter or email from the rating agency(ies) that confirms their interest and availability to conduct a rating/Certificationat your institution, and states their proposed fee, all of which should corresponding to the information you are reporting in this application). Note that information on availability will be interpreted as a best guess but is not binding; RIFF-CAC recognizes that availability changes:
Name of the Certifier and/or rating agency your institution would like to hire:
When is this agency potentially available? (NB: The agency's answer to this is understood by RIFF-CAC to be a best guess, and is not-binding.) :
Reporting. How will you publish the results of your rating and/or Certification should you pass?
Sharing experience. Learning from peers is a valuable tool to help the responsible inclusive finance sector advance practice throughout the world. For this reason, the RIFF-CAC will require all financial service providers who receive co-financing from the RIFF-CAC to commit to giving feedback to the RIFF-CACon their experience implementing RIFF-CAC-funded activities. The feedback mechanism will include both speaking to RIFF-CAC staff about your experiences, either virtually or in person, as well as submitting a written response to a project evaluation form provided to you by the RIFF-CAC. Please write your initials at the end of the following statement, to confirm you understand this rule and agree to it.
I agree to provide feedback to the RIFF-CAC on my institution's experiences implementing RIFF-CAC-funded activities through two channels: conversations with RIFF-CAC staff and by submitting a written response to a project evaluation form. [Your initials]:
Instructions for submitting the application:
Please type (preferred) or write neatly answers to all questions in this application.
Once you have completed the application, please email the following documents to and put "application to RIFF-CAC for Smart certification and/or social rating" as your subject line:
your application form, filled out
your CV
your institution's income statements for the past three years
your institution's balance sheet statements for the past three years
organizational information described in question 3 (NB: this will either submitted as a separate document, as explained in question 3, or you may provide the requested information directly in this application form in response to question 3)
social data you have collected from the past two years (see question 6)
an estimated budget for your Smart certification and/or social audit
documentation that you have spoken to the assessor(s) and/or rating agency whom you'd like to hire, and the information they provided to you on their rates and availability to do this work

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