Study shows SMS Reminders Boost Ontime Loan Payments

January 21, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Professor Dean KarlanInnovations for Poverty Action (IPA) led by Professor Dean Karlan of Yale University, in partnership with United States Agency for International Development-supported Rural Bankers Association of the Philippines-Microenterprise Access to Banking Services (RBAP-MABS) Program,  conducted a study to test the effectiveness of using text messages (SMS) for loan payment reminder. Updates on this study were shared with RBAP-MABS on January 20, 2012.

In partnership with two RBAP-MABS participating banks, Green Bank Inc. and the Rural Bank of Mabitac, IPA studied the impact of SMS reminders with 1,259 first time borrowers. The study was designed to investigate the importance of the SMS’s timing, framing and personalization of reminders sent to borrowers.  For a period of sixteen (16) months between January 2009 and April 2010, 840 randomly selected loan clients received SMS reminders in their local dialect reminding them to pay their loans.

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Video: Microinsurance Services of Rural Banks

August 5, 2011 By Leave a Comment

This video documents the microinsurance efforts of the Rural Bankers Association of the Philippines in partnership with United States Agency for International Development/Philippines through the Microenterprise Access to Banking Services (MABS) Program and the International Labour Organization under the Microinsurance Innovation Facility.

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1st Valley Bank Highlights its Mobile Banking Services

July 21, 2011 By Leave a Comment

USAID delegates with 1st Valley Bank officers and staff

The officers and staff of 1st Valley Bank Zamboanga Del Norte branch welcomed officials of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) composed of Director Andrew Plitt (ASIA/Special Project Office), Myra Stokes and Teresita Espenilla of USAID/Philippines on July 20, 2011.  On hand to provide the briefing on the USAID-supported Rural Bankers Association of the Philippines-Microenterprise Access to Banking Services (RBAP-MABS) Program was Regional Manager for Mindanao Anthony Petalcorin, while 1st Valley Bank officer Ms. Emily Enad, 1st Valley Bank Vice-President for Risk Management provided the guests a look at how the bank is implementing the different initiatives under the RBAP-MABS program, especially with regard to mobile phone banking.

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Text-A-Withdrawal Makes Access to Mobile Money Easier

December 7, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Archie’s assistant handles the GCASH transactions when he and his wife are not around.

Archie’s assistant handles the GCASH transactions when he and his wife are not around.

Mr. Archiebald “Archie” Beldad owns a pharmacy located in the town center of Cantilan, Surigao del Sur located in rural northeastern Mindanao. As a registered client of Cantilan Bank, a participating bank under the Microenterprise Access to Banking Services (MABS) Program, Archie began using GCASH for business in March 2007. He purchases and sells GCASH in small amounts and accepts GCASH as payment for his goods. He has a good credit record with the bank where he has been maintaining a deposit account for several years. Archie also uses the convenience of the Text-A-Withdrawal facility to withdraw from his deposit account and load up on GCASH.  When he has extra funds in GCASH, he also uses Text-A-Deposit to send money back to deposit in his account remotely.

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Going green to greener pasture

November 18, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Mr. Ismael Adiaton, First Macro Bank Microentrepreneur client
2010 Citi Microentrepreneur of the Year Special Awardee for Green and Sustainable Enterprises

When his hardware store in Taytay, Rizal was ransacked several years ago, Ismael Adiaton felt depression overtake him. He had lost the business that cost him 13 years of hard work in the Middle East. He had lost the dream that he hoped would give his family a better life.
Disheartened as he was, he struggled to move on and invested in another business: construction. However, his partner ran off, taking his P500,000 and the hope of salvaging their livelihood.
Twice beaten down, Mang Ismael still did not give up. Soon, he put up a junkshop with a friend and took care of the shop’s operations. Every midnight, he would go around the neighborhood with his wife and his helper, checking piles of garbage for recyclable scrap metal. Little by little, his new business grew. When one of his workers suggested buying equipment for can recycling, he saw new opportunities for his junkshop business.
“Junkshop business had a lot of competition,” Mang Ismael said in Filipino during an interview with the Microfinance Council of the Philippines, Inc. (MCPI). “I saw the potential with cans and there were only a few players. I didn’t find another business where the demand is greater than the supply.”
Slowly, he converted his junkshop into a can recycling plant. They collected and processed cans, helping not only his family but also the environment. He availed of loans from First Macro Bank’s Angono branch and used them to expand his business. He was able to invest in more machines, including 4 big power press units, 5 small power press units, 2 vehicles and 2 computers. He was also able to put up a bakery, a sari-sari (variety) store, and a carinderia.
A man who never lost faith and kept on working his hardest, he now shares his blessings with other people, including his 21 employees to whom he regularly preaches the Gospel and provides free meals and lodging.
In recognition of his success, perseverance and contribution to the environment, Mang Ismael was awarded the 2010 Citi Microentrepreneur of the Year Special Award for Green and Sustainable Enterprises. He was among the ten Filipino microentrepreneurs who were recognized on November 17 at the BSP Compound in Manila for their outstanding performance in their businesses.
This year’s annual ceremony marks the 8th run of this prestigious award sponsored by Citibank and MCPI, and supported by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). The nationwide search was open to all microfinance organizations representing the rural banking sector, credit cooperatives and microfinance NGOs, but only ten awardees were selected from the various nominations to represent the “New Heroes of Today”, as BSP Governor Amando Tentangco called them in his keynote speech. All awardees received a cash prize and a trophy. The account officer and branch managing the account of the awardees also received cash prizes and plaques.

Ismael Adiaton and wifeWhen his hardware store in Taytay, Rizal was ransacked several years ago, Ismael Adiaton felt depression overtake him. He had lost the business that cost him 13 years of hard work in the Middle East. He had lost the dream that he hoped would give his family a better life.

Disheartened as he was, he struggled to move on and invested in another business: construction. However, his partner ran off, taking his P500,000 and the hope of salvaging their livelihood.

Twice beaten down, Mang Ismael still did not give up. Soon, he put up a junkshop with a friend and took care of the shop’s operations. Every midnight, he would go around the neighborhood with his wife and his helper, checking piles of garbage for recyclable scrap metal. Little by little, his new business grew. When one of his workers suggested buying equipment for can recycling, he saw new opportunities for his junkshop business. [Read more...]

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