Tanzanians Take a Closer Look at Microfinance in the Philippines

January 19, 2012 By Leave a Comment

CRBD of Tanzania during their visit at Bangko Kabayan, Inc.

In partnership with RBAP International Study Visit Program, The United States Agency for International Development-supported Rural Bankers Association of Philippines– Microenterprise Access to Banking Services (RBAP-MABS) Program organized an international study group for representatives of the Cooperatives Rural and Development Bank Microfinance Services Company Ltd. (CRDB) of Tanzania on January 18, 2012.

CRDB Microfinance Services Company Ltd., a subsidiary of CRDB Bank Plc, offers wholesale microfinance services by providing tailor made products and services that address financial needs of different communities in Tanzania. Moving forward, they plan to go into retail microfinance and design more catered products reaching the formerly ‘unservable’ market niche. The visit aims to obtain lessons learnt from rural banks in implementing microfinance, microinsurance and mobile phone banking. This would eventually align their outreach strategies together with technological advancements, knowledge of specific market segment and continuous development of internal capacities to achieve maximum impact to businesses and the communities they serve.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Latest Updates, Microinsurance Tagged With: , , , , , ,

2010 MABS EAGLE Awardees

May 26, 2011 By Leave a Comment

In May 2011, MABS named two of its outstanding participating banks as the EAGLE ACHIEVEMENT Awardees for 2010. These were Bangko Kabayan and Rural Bank of Gattaran.

In recognition of the banks’ exemplary performance in 2010, MABS prepared video documentaries presenting each bank’s success and best practices. These videos are now available online.

Click the following links to watch the videos:

The EAGLE Achievement Award

The annual EAGLE Awards is MABS’ way of recognizing its excelling partner rural banks based on their Efficiency, Asset Quality, Growth, Liability Structure, and Earnings (EAGLE). Every year, MABS conducts an assessment of its participating banks’ performance particularly in microfinance. The results of the annual assessment are presented to the rural banks in a score card format along with written analyses and recommendations for improvement, usually during the annual National Roundtable Conference. Those that met MABS’ standards for excellence are awarded the EAGLE Achievement Award.

Filed Under: Announcements, MABS Features, Videos Tagged With: , , ,

Bangko Kabayan undergoes HMF product operations review and operations review training

April 30, 2011 By Leave a Comment

BK HMF Ops RevThe USAID-supported RBAP-MABS program conducted an operations review of Bangko Kabayan’s housing microfinance (HMF) product on April 26-29. This was to assess the performance and status of the bank’s HMF product, evaluate its strong points and areas for improvement, and provide recommendations based on the review to further enhance the product design and operational system.

Based in Batangas, Bangko Kabayan began the pilot phase of its housing microfinance product in September 2009. Since then, the product has already been rolled out to 13 of its 15 branches, reaching over 379 new borrowers by the start of this year.

Aside from the actual operations review, RBAP-MABS also trained some of the bank’s staff to develop and strengthen its capacity to conduct an internal product operations review. Selected participants from the bank’s marketing and audit departments went through specialized hands-on training on operations review tools, processes and techniques. To ensure impartiality in conducting reviews, the bank selected participants who are familiar with microfinance, but are not involved in the operations of the HMF product.

Filed Under: MABS Highlights Tagged With: , , , ,

Bangko Kabayan expands Mobile Phone Banking by targeting “influencers”

March 12, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Last March 10-11, staff from the USAID-supported RBAP-MABS program went back to Batangas-based Bangko Kabayan to review its Mobile Phone Banking Channel Management pilot program. The team’s follow-up trip to Tingloy Island was to check on the developments of mobile phone banking activities there since the visit in December last year.

BK visit 1

Prior to the review, the bank had already added a merchant-partner to support bank clients in another village. It has also tripled the number of depositors and doubled the number of borrowers using mobile phone banking services. These efforts greatly help in making mobile phone banking sustainable in a remote island setting as in Tingloy. [Read more...]

Filed Under: MABS Features, MABS Highlights Tagged With: , , ,

Providing M-Banking Services in a Remote Island: The Bangko Kabayan Experience

February 4, 2011 By Leave a Comment

M-Banking allows rural banks to expand their reach to communities too small or too remote to justify a branch. Bangko Kabayan, working with the USAID-supported RBAP-MABS Program, has successfully piloted an approach that combines regular visits from bank officers with partnering with mobile money accredited merchants such as sari-sari stores, which provide cash-in, cash-out (CICO) services that allow bank clients to convert cash into mobile money or vice versa. This approach, called channel management, could be replicated by any rural bank that wishes to expand its customer reach to remote areas without the expense of building branches, thereby providing access to banking services cheaply and efficiently.

The RBAP-MABS Program Channel Management Initiative, with funding support from USAID and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation through a grant from Mercy Corps, began its pilot phase in November 2010. In a recent visit in December 2010, RBAP-MABS interviewed the channel officers, merchant-partners, and clients of Bangko Kabayan. The team also visited one of the pilot areas located in Tingloy Island in Batangas Bay area, across Batangas City. This remote island can only be reached by a two-hour boat ride.
In the interviews with merchants and clients in the area, RBAP-MABS found out that both were quite enthusiastic about the bank’s GCASH-powered mobile phone banking services (MPBS). They were particularly interested in the Text-A-Deposit service, which allows them to save remotely through their mobile phones. This is one more example of how small rural banks can provide banking services with mobile money platforms in remote areas even without a branch.

Batangas map

The RBAP-MABS Program Channel Management Initiative, with funding support from USAID and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation through a grant from Mercy Corps, began its pilot phase in November 2010. In a recent visit in December 2010, RBAP-MABS interviewed the channel officers, merchant-partners, and clients of Bangko Kabayan. The team also visited one of the pilot areas located in Tingloy Island in Batangas Bay area, across Batangas City. This remote island can only be reached by a two-hour boat ride.

In the interviews with merchants and clients in the area, RBAP-MABS found out that both were quite enthusiastic about the bank’s GCASH-powered mobile phone banking services (MPBS). They were particularly interested in the Text-A-Deposit service, which allows them to save remotely through their mobile phones. This is one more example of how small rural banks can provide banking services with mobile money platforms in remote areas even without a branch.

Bangko Kabayan hired two channel officers to separately conduct market research and identify potential merchant-partners who can be accredited by the mobile money issuer and act as cash-in and cash-out points. One of the channel officers visited Tingloy Island and surveyed key barangays.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: MABS Features, MABS Highlights Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,
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