As the microfinance sector has commercialized, institutions face growing pressures to generate financial returns, introducing risks of Mission Drift—where an MFI shifts focus from serving low-income populations to chasing high-yield, less-inclusive commercial fields.
Implementing SPM Protections
To maintain their double bottom line, inclusive financial networks implement formal Social Performance Management (SPM) systems:
  1. The Client Protection Principles: Integrating strict ethical lending rules into corporate operations, explicitly banning deceptive pricing structures, predatory collection habits, and discriminatory loan practices. [1]
  2. Automated Over-Indebtedness Screening: Checking central credit registries and internal data feeds to ensure borrowers are not carry multiple high-interest loans from competing providers, preventing debt traps.

 
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