Smart principles in creating a sustainable microfinance sector

Prosperous Capital Ltd. (PCA Ltd.) penetrates urban and rural low-income customer segments to provide financial solutions.

Microfinance has undergone a significant transformation in recent years. The steadily growing popularity of microfinance has reached a global audience and continues to be a key facilitator in helping to fight poverty in both developing and developed countries.

The world development indicators from the World Bank report state that over 23% of the Sri Lankan population is living below the poverty line. To address this concern, PCA Ltd. has taken the initiative to penetrate into urban and rural low-income customer segments and provide financial solutions to uplift their income level living and standards. 

Their strategically placed branched network into untapped rural areas in Sri Lanka has awakened customer segments that have never been exposed to microfinance in the past. Currently, operating in 11 branches, PCA Ltd. is strategically placed to cover locations island-wide and plans are also in place to expand by opening another 15 branches in the near future. 

PCA Ltd. takes responsibility for creating wider benefits both within and around the business and endeavour to make a positive impact, which improves people’s livelihoods while protecting the environment.

The company believes in improving the lives of their clients and that improvement can come only when the right kind of social initiatives are put in place. Therefore, PCA Ltd. has introduced a host of supportive social initiatives, which includes Entrepreneurship Development, Healthcare initiatives, Environment Protection and Conversation, Empowerment of Community and Ethics and Values. As a company following the triple bottom line concept, the goal is to maintain Financial, Social and Environment performance through sustainable development. Hence, the company vision “to create an opportunity for the rural people of Sri Lanka to achieve a life free from poverty, with dignity and purpose.”

The microfinance sector in Sri Lanka has become very dynamic and organisations increasingly face new challenges that include fierce competition, demand for diversified products, and most selective customers. 

As a result, microfinance providers face rising client dropout rates and sometimes-low acquisition rates. PCA Ltd. considers the most important function in microfinance to be increasing a customer-centric culture that strengthens the ties between the organisation and the customer in numerous ways, including finding the right customers which helps to grow the customer base as the company expands into new markets and work with new customer segments. Awareness creation programs also help to achieve the social missions by making sure low-income clients are aware of the services available. 

Microfinance service providers in Sri Lanka typically face four challenges which can be easily addressed. These are poor awareness, poor understanding, low activation rates and low retention rates. 

PCA Ltd. has taken the responsibility to identify these problems facing the microfinance industry, and in turn designed and executed appropriate strategies to respond and track results. The Micro Finance Act; No. 6 of 2016, passed by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka this year, will help to regulate the Microfinance industry in Sri Lanka. 

Attention is also given to working with respect to corporate social responsibility based on the fundamental values and principles set out in the UN’s Global Compact while strictly following the international labour law standards.

The company has a good reputation in the Microfinance industry among both customers and stakeholders. This is mainly due to instant recognition, differentiation, reliability, word of mouth and goodwill. We believe that we have a duty to educate the entrepreneurs to facilitate their development and ensure that they have adequate knowledge to make informed choices. The projects focus on the key areas that entrepreneurs must address in taking products to the market, providing insights to avoiding common pitfalls and financial literacy. 

PCA Ltd. is the only ISO certified microfinance company in Sri Lanka. The company has won several important business awards recognising the dedicated efforts towards the microfinance sector in Sri Lanka, of which the most notable awards being the Global Banking and Finance Review Awards 2015, International Finance magazine review awards 2015 and the Asia Responsible Entrepreneur Award 2016.

Prof. Prasanna Perera, a Professor in Economics, has received numerous awards including the Common Wealth Doctoral Scholarship. Kodikara serves as the Non-Executive Independent Director of the company. Prof. Prasanna has been associated with the company since its inception as promoter taking responsibility for the strategic direction and guidance of the company. 

Madhawa Edussuriya is an Executive Director of PCA Ltd. being the founder consultant and chief strategist of the company leading the company to obtain ISO 9001:2008 certification for the operational quality of the company by SGS-UK, which is believed to be the first ISO certified Micro Credit provider in Sri Lanka. 

He holds an MBA from the Australian Institute of Business (AIB) 2013, MSc. in Strategic Marketing, from Asia E University, Malaysia (2011) and a Diploma in Business Management from the Indian Institute of Business and Technology.