IPC partnered with Ma’anshan Rural Commercial Bank (MRCB) to co-invest and jointly establish the Chinese-German School for Inclusive Finance in Ma’anshan, Anhui province. After a feasibility study by IPC to assess the viability of the School, we were contracted over a period of three years to support the establishment, development, and management of the school. The school, which received its official business license in 2016, focuses primarily on training account managers in effective MSE lending techniques and on training cashiers in daily operations. Training participants include MRCB’s own account managers and cashiers, staff from MRCB’s growing network of affiliated village and township banks (VTBs), and an increasing number of entry-level staff from other credit institutions in Anhui province and throughout China.

Feasibility study

• MRCB’s training capacities
• proposed business model: market situation, target groups and potential demand, training supply from other providers, client acquisition options
• main training content
• proposed institutional setup, including legal issues and staffing
• operational and financial feasibility in order to define business plan

In its first three years of operation, the school provided over 5,800 participants with 192 trainings on topics including MSE lending, communication and marketing, banking products, risk management, audit, management, and train-the-trainer instruction. MRCB contracted IPC through a three-year framework agreement to assist in establishing, managing, and developing the school, with a focus on two core areas: institution building and training development.

Institution Building

• defining an institutional framework to manage and operate the school at a high standard of governance with comprehensive core documentation: policies, procedures, organisational chart, code of conduct, fire prevention and emergency evacuation procedures

• establishing and revising the school’s business plan
• developing operational support tools: business plan and forecasting calculation tool, register of training participants, IT-based training management system, reporting procedures
• providing support for the recruitment process and preparing job descriptions for managers and staff
• formulating a marketing and acquisition strategy: market needs assessment and marketing materials
• supporting the creation of a legal entity, including registration and appointment of staff
• conducting follow-up on and monitoring of renovation and preparation of premises
• defining quality assurance measures, including an audit of health and safety activities
• developing and updating the school’s website and marketing material

Training Development

• setting up a centralised database of MSE-related and counter-service-related training materials, records and files as well as on training participant information
• identifying and training lecturers and trainers (both full and part-time), and developing a management procedure for trainers
• conducting targeted training needs assessment
• creating selection criteria for training of external clients
• reviewing/amending training topics and courses for different target groups: course design, content, objectives, teaching methods and structure
• selecting and training lecturers: best-practice methodologies and evaluating/coaching
• revising, developing and approving evaluation forms and other quality control instruments
• developing evaluations about external clients and supporting account manager recruitment
• establishing a middle management training programme with training in both Germany and China