By Cheryl Lualhati Balingit, RBAP-MABS Special Projects Coordinator
In Filipino grammar, adding the prefix mag is a nifty way to verbalize a noun. This extends from everyday, colloquial conversation Mag-kape tayo (Let’s have coffee) Mag-sine tayo (Let’s watch a movie) to more profound exhortations, like Mag-bago na tayo. (It’s time we make a change). The United States Agency for International Development-supported Rural Bankers Association of the Philippines Microenterprise Access to Banking Services (RBAP-MABS) Program with assistance from Microfinance Opportunities (MFO) is now assisting rural banks to extend this further to promote mobile phone banking services with the launch of mag-CellBank! and the pilot testing of the Financial Education for Branchless Banking Project.
mag-CellBank!, the new logo for mobile phone banking services, employs the prefix mag to cell (for cellphone) and bank. Mag-CellBank! is an enthusiastic call for clients to perform banking transactions using their cellphones. The new name, along with a visual identity, is integrated into the new Financial Education for Branchless Banking toolkit that is currently being used by three pilot banks – GM Bank, Cantilan Bank, and 1st Valley Bank. mag-CellBank! services include Text-A-Payment (TAP), Text-A-Deposit (TAD), Text-A-Withdrawal (TAW), and phone-to-phone transfers and payments.
Launched in June 2010, the Financial Education for Branchless Banking Project is implemented by the RBAP-MABS Program with support from MFO, a Washington-based global nonprofit that develops consumer-focused ideas and solutions for the microfinance industry. The project, which is implemented in partnership with The MasterCard Foundation, aims to increase the uptake and use of mobile phone banking services through the use of financial education tools.
The dissemination and use of the toolkit rounds up close to a year of work and preparation.
