At the request of Fullerton Credit Services (FCS), a microcredit company based in Sichuan province of China, IPC engaged in a month-long MSE lending gap analysis project. The project’s objective was for IPC to conduct a thorough analysis of FCS’s current MSE lending operations in order to identify key inefficiencies, risks, and deviations from international and domestic best practice.

IPC engaged in the following tasks:

• Conducting interviews with management and staff on all levels (42 staff interviewed in total)
• Randomly sampling and visiting MSE businesses in three different cities (23 clients visited)

• Shadowing and observing branch credit operations throughout the MSE credit cycle
• Observing classroom training sessions
• Reviewing and studying key documents and files, including policies, procedures, job descriptions, product descriptions, and credit files
• Analysing key data, including current and historical portfolio data and trends in staffing

Following its on-site diagnostic and analysis, IPC provided management with a practical report containing concrete and functional recommendations for improving MSE lending operations.