Egyptian business, finance, and bank specialists enrich Mobile Banking knowledge thru MABS experience
MABS highlighted the Program’s mobile phone banking best practices in a recent presentation to Egyptian executives from USAID Egypt, General Authority for Investment and Free Zones (Ministry of Investment), Egyptian Insurance Supervisory Authority, Dakahleya Businessmen Association for Community Development, First Microfinance Foundation (Aga Khan), and the Egypt Microenterprise Finance Project.
The Egyptian representatives aim to improve their country’s mobile phone banking services thru the successful gains and challenges resolved in the Philippine m-banking sector as shared by the MABS Program.
MABS Featured in Four-Country Study Visit to the Philippines
MABS presented to executives from India, Nepal, Thailand, and the Philippines in the recent study visit arranged by the Asia-Pacific Rural and Agricultural Credit Association (APRACA). The participants represented organizations from India, inluding Andhra Bank, the State Bank of India (Mumbai), the State Bank of Mysore (Bangalore), Reserve Bank of India, and Punjab National Bank; from Thailand, the Bank of Thailand; from Nepal, the Nepal Rastra Bank; and from the Philippines, the Agricultural Credit Policy Council.
The briefing focused on MABS Approach to microfinance and mobile phone banking for microfinance clients.
Mobile banking expands access in rural communities
Cantilan Bank identified the upland area of Ban-ban – a small sitio in Barangay Paniquian of Carrascal town – as one of the places to promote their Text-A-Payment service. Banban is relatively hard to reach due to rough, dusty roads that zigzag and are quite steep at some stretches. Cantilan Bank’s main branch has around 45 microloan clients in Banban, borrowing in groups or individually. Group loan borrowers gather weekly with their payments on hand to meet and give their payments to the bank’s account officers, who go to the center of Bgy. Paniquian for weekly collections. On the other hand, individual borrowers have to go to the bank to pay.
