Awards & Achievements

KMBL is proud to announce the successful completion of the Social Rating assessment with Microfinanza Rating Agency. After a thorough review of our Social Performance Management System, KMBL has been assigned the sA, based on the Social Rating scale adopted by MFR. KMBL is the first institution in Pakistan to achieve a high score in good social performance management and client protection systems. The social rating provides an expert opinion on the social performance management of a financial service provider and its capacity to put its mission into practice and achieve social goals. This success bears testament to KMBL that we are fully aligned with the latest social performance standards as defined by global initiatives such as the Social Performance Task Force and the Smart Campaign/Client Protection Principles. This rating shows KMBL’s long term commitment to promoting transparency and social performance for more responsible microfinance.

Khushhali Microfinance Bank (KMBL) has achieved another great milestone, as it has been awarded the Gold Level in ‘Client Protection Certification’, by the prestigious MicroFinanza Rating Agency. This international recognition has elevated KMBL as the world’s first financial institution to achieve this coveted accolade. The certification acknowledges that the accredited institution has ensured compliance with the most stringent Client-Protection regulations, set forth in the Universal Standards for Social Performance Management. KMBL has earned this certification by ensuring 100% adherence to all the highest industry standards including; transparency, responsible pricing, fair and respectful treatment of clients, the privacy of client data, prevention of over-indebtedness and appropriate product design and delivery. These criteria are set by MicroFinanza Rating Agency and also approved by SPTF and Cerise – Self-Assessment Tool for Financial Service Providers to ensure Client-Protection.

Khushhali Microfinance Bank Limited (KMBL) has been awarded "The Best Microfinance Bank of Pakistan" for the third consecutive time by Institute of Bankers Pakistan. This is a testament to the performance of Khushhali Microfinance Bank over the years. The honour has been bestowed upon KMBL on the occasion of 5th Pakistan Banking Awards 2020, with knowledge partners AF Ferguson and media partners Dawn Media Group.

The Banking Awards are a platform where the efforts of various financial institutions in the development of new and improved products and services are recognized. The Awards help to raise the bar of performance each year by encouraging higher standards of professionalism. Pakistan Bankers Award also rewards excellence in the areas of financial inclusion, customer convenience, technology in banking, Islamic Banking, trade finance including SME and agriculture. In attendance at the awards were representatives of the banking industry as well as members of regulatory bodies and the stakeholders of the industry.

Khushhali Microfinance Bank has been awarded “Best Microfinance Bank of the Year” by CFA Society Pakistan at the “17th Annual Excellence Awards” ceremony held at a local hotel on Friday. This is the first time that the microfinance industry has been given prominence through the recognition of best performing market leaders at an awards ceremony.
Dr. Reza Baqir, Governor, State Bank of Pakistan graced the event as the chief guest at the 17th year of the flagship event. A committee of senior members of the CFA Society with vast analytical experience in evaluating sector fundamentals, decided the recipients of the awards. The awards were distributed on the basis of being the greatest contributing banks towards economic development and poverty elevation initiatives in the country.
The best microfinance bank award was presented to Khushhali Microfinance Bank owing to the highest market share, consistent growth, profitability, and other high-performance factors for the past 3 years.
President KMBL Ghalib Nishtar expresed his views in this regard, “It is a tremendous honor to win this prestigious award. It’s a testament to our consistently high performance in the microfinance sector of Pakistan”.
The CFA Excellence awards aim to encourage higher standards of performance and professionalism by recognizing industry leaders showing outstanding performance under various categories.
Khushhali Microfinance Bank, with its two-decade history of serving the underprivileged segment of society through microfinance, has been central in poverty alleviation in Pakistan. A forerunner in the microfinance sector, it has financially empowered individuals from both urban and rural communities.
CFA Society Pakistan is a not-for-profit entity and affiliated with CFA Institute, USA that administers the CFA Program globally. Volunteers oversee CFA Society Board with the aim to promote higher professional and ethical standards in financial markets.

Being the pioneer of the industry, Khushhali Microfinance Bank Limited takes its lead in the market by getting awarded with "Best Microfinance Bank 2019" in Pakistan running for the second consecutive year at the Pakistan Banking Awards 2019. The award distribution ceremony is held each year to acknowledge the best prevailing practices in financial industry by Institute of Bankers Pakistan with knowledge partners AF Ferguson and media partners Dawn Media Group.

The award was presented to Khuahhali Microfinance Bank Limited for outperforming its reach throughout the country with penetration effeciency and customer centric portfolio of innovative products. Attention to detail in processes and focus on bringing innovative solutions for customers have been the key to being the market leader of microfinance industry.

While receiving the award, Mr. Ghalib Nishtar said, “Receiving this award on behalf of Khushhali Microfinance Bank Limited is a humbling experience. Cultivating a community of microfinance, hand in hand with our consumers is a core value of Khushhali Microfinance Bank Limited. We aim to providing the best possible solutions to our consumers to enable them to build and create their dreams with ease and comfort. Entrepreneurship is a key component in the growth of our economy, and we at Khushhali Microfinance Bank Limited are honored to be a part of the country’s economic growth. This award is also a testament to the hard work and dedication of the team of Khushhali Microfinance Bank Limited.”

The Banking Awards ensure that the efforts put towards the development of new and improved products and services are recognized. This allows for the coming year to also be spent innovating solutions for the industry. The collective effort helps in bringing the bar of performance higher each year. Pakistan Bankers Award also awarded excellence in the areas of financial inclusion, customer convenience, technology in banking, Islamic Banking, trade finance including SME and agriculture.

Khushhali Microfinance Bank Limited (KMBL) continues to uphold its efforts towards implementing environmentally sustainable practices in its corporate office. Besides taking various tree planting initiatives for a greener Pakistan, KMBL is also aware of working for a greener office. In response to its efforts, Green Office certification was renewed for the year 2019 again by WWF-Pakistan.

Green Office initiatives taken up by KMBL was also recognized by Pakistan Microfinance Network (PMN) who awarded KMBL at the conference, Rethinking Microfinance – Developing A New Inclusive Financial Compass. Khushhali Microfinance Bank Limited proves true to its commitment for a Greener Pakistan through its environment conservative initiatives.

Khushhali Microfinance Bank Limited has won the accolade of “ Best Microfinance Bank” at the third Pakistan Banking Awards 2018 organized by the Institute of Bankers Pakistan with AF Ferguson as its knowledge partner and & Dawn Media Group as its official media partner. The pioneer microfinance bank of Pakistan was honored with this award for its all-round performance in expanding outreach through penetration efficiency and innovations along with both a strong bottom line and social impact.

The award ceremony was honored by Mr. Jamil Ahmed – deputy governor State Bank of Pakistan, whereas other attendees included members of the banking fraternity, regulatory bodies and other stakeholder groups.

Talking on the occasion, President of Khushhali Microfinance Bank, Mr. Ghalib Nishtar, said, “We are humbled to be recognized as a front-runner in the micro finance banking industry. An important part of what we do at Khushhali Microfinance Bank is to create and foster a community within the microfinance banking ecosystem. The award is a tribute to the spirit of entrepreneurship of millions of our clients and a recognition of the outstanding team at Khushhali.”

“The award signifies our momentous efforts to provide formal financial access to the marginalized segments of Pakistan. Such prestigious banking awards play a vital role in boosting the morale of financial institutions to work harder to bridge the divide between the banked and unbanked,” he further added.

These awards honor and promote the efforts of banks for developing new and innovative products and services, while giving them the incentive to enhance their performance for the coming year. The areas rewarded included financial inclusion, customer convenience, technology in banking, Islamic banking, trade finance including SME and agriculture. The award jury members have a vast experience of working for the financial sector and the awards are decided after thorough review of product offerings and performance of all the nominee banks.

This quarter Khushhalibank achieved another milestone by proclaiming the Gold Price Disclosure Award by Microfinanza Ratings. The award proves KMBL’s commitment to transparency of its pricing information.

The Price Disclosure award is a public recognition of pricing transparency visible to investors and other international stakeholders who subscribe to the Data Platform. It signifies KMBL’s commitment to maintain highest standards of business practices as a major player within the microfinance sector of Pakistan. The Data Platform is a recent initiative for transparency in the financial inclusion sector that fills the gap left by Microfinance Transparency and unites several other microfinance initiatives (e.g. CERISE, SPTF, Smart campaign, PPI, MIMOSA, Factsheet, etc).

With this recognition, KMBL aims to further improve its ability to utilize the customer insights to advance its internal processes and lay the foundations to automate differentiated propositions to individual customers based on what they value.

MicroFinanza Rating (MFR) is a private and independent international rating agency specialized in microfinance. The organization aims to operate in a transparent market as a highly qualified information provider in the field of microfinance and responsible investing. It delivers microfinance and responsible finance industry with independent, high quality ratings and information services, aiming at enhancing transparency, facilitating investments and promoting best practices worldwide.

Khushhali Microfinance Bank has recently been awarded ‘Green Office Certification’ by WWF-Pakistan in recognition for its concrete efforts to implement environmentally sustainable practices within the head office. Khushhali Microfinance joined this programme in October 2017 and was able to get the certification within six months. Over this time, KMBL worked in close collaboration with WWF team to implement effective measures that will reduce the carbon footprint of the office by reducing wastage of resources like electricity, water and paper. Several innovative measures were introduced aimed at reducing the consumption of energy, improving waste management practices and enhancing staff awareness on sustainability and environment conservation through regular communication and training sessions.

The Certification was awarded after an in-depth inspection drive by the WWF Green Office Audit Team which took into account all the environmentally sustainable practices implemented within the office and their impact. Talking about the Green office certification President Khushhali Microfinance Bank, Ghalib Nishtar said “The Green Office certification recognizes the continuous efforts that the Bank is taking towards environment conservation with a particular focus on increased awareness of the staff on the issue so that they are able to replicate it outside this office as well.”

Green Office is a programme of WWF-Pakistan which centers on reduction in consumption of natural resources, promotion of climate change mitigation measures and increased awareness about environment. The first audit scores offices based on their practices involving energy conservation, waste reduction, recycling, and awareness programmes. WWF Green Office conducts annual audits to ensure that all implemented practices are followed in true spirit and efforts are being made for continuous improvement towards reduction of carbon footprint. KMBL is committed to the cause of environment conservation and is promoting it through multiple avenues including tree plantation activities, staff awareness activities and effective changes in its policies and procedures that support environment conservation.

Khushhali Achieves SMART Certification!! Another milestone achieved. Khushhali Bank opted to obtain SMART Certification using Microfinanza Rating (MFR) with support from the Pakistan Microfinance Network. SMART Certification is an independent, third party evaluation to publicly recognize financial institutions that meet adequate standards of care in how they treat clients. It enables financial institutions to demonstrate adherence to the industry's Client Protection Principles.

On July 27th, MFR finalized KMBL’s Assessment Report and has officially presented the bank with the certification seal. This was made possible by the relentless efforts of all of KMBL’s staff, corporate office and branches. We would like to congratulate everyone on this achievement and hope this translates into further opportunities for KMBL.

The 10th annual assembly of Pakistan Microfinance Forum was held on 4th October 2016 at Marriott Hotel in Karachi. The forum featured eminent Micro financiers, development experts and operational chiefs who discussed various future strategies for the sector.

This year’s theme was "Transform lives: Innovate for the Poor". The aim of the forum was to generate innovative ideas that can help the underprivileged with developing businesses and increase entrepreneurship in Pakistan. A key focus of the event was how to increase financial inclusion and come up with solutions that can help in creating necessary changes in Pakistan’s economic environment to empower people from all of society.

The annual conference aimed to contemplate the pros and cons of the policy and regulatory framework aimed at boosting output to achieve sustainability. It also examined the performance of this sector by understanding the endeavors of the key players, with respect to national goals. The conference laid stress on discussing and learning how this sector can reach out and fulfill the aspirations of the investors, regulators, stakeholders and consumers at large. Experts evaluated and recommended appropriate solutions and technological interventions to meet future challenges.

In respect to this, Ghalib Nishtar, President Khushhalibank said, “In the recent past, global trends and national development processes have transformed the role played by MSME’s in the economy globally. Developing countries like Pakistan need to work towards financial inclusion and investing in MSME’s is one of the best ways to do so. All across the globe, MSME’s are improving economy, creating jobs and improving lifestyles”. “Given that MSME’s account for 98% of Pakistan’s economic establishments, Pakistani banks have a huge social responsibility to serve and support them”, he said. “At Khushhalibank, our aim is to lead empower those living under the poverty line to develop businesses and help them lead their families to prosperity. In the past few months, we have expanded our network to 138 branches covering all of Pakistan, enabling ourselves to cater to the financial needs of over five million active borrowers”.

The participants at this year’s conference got insights on how Microfinance sector leaders can make better forecast market dynamics, maintain sustainability and fully exploit the available resources to facilitate growth in the grass roots level. It was a great opportunity to discuss and generate opportunities for small-scale businesses and human resources by recognizing training needs and optimum utilization of skill sets for capacity building. Khushhalibank was one of the major sponsors of the event.