Client Voices Peru Country Report: Progress and Evolving Risks in an Advanced Consumer Protection Environment

This report presents key findings from qualitative and quantitative research for the Smart Campaign’s Client Voices project. This ambitious research project aims to understand what clients consider both problematic and good treatment by microfinance providers (MFPs), and to assess how common consumer protection problems are in four markets: Pakistan, Benin, Georgia, and Peru.

This report presents issues as relayed to the Smart Campaign by 1,000 current and former microfinance clients in the country, and makes recommendations on improving practices and contributing to a more transparent and protective microfinance industry in Peru.

Key findings include:

• Clients are generally satisfied with microfinance services in Peru.
• Heavy debt burdens is a cause for concern;
• A combined 18 percent of clients have either taken out a loan for someone else or used a loan that was in another person’s name;
• Centralized credit reporting to credit bureaus creates a strong incentive for repayment, and clients reported only minimal client protection problems in collections;
• Disclosure about client loan terms could be improved;
• MFP clients in Peru have many options for recourse, but the majority lack information about these channels.