RBAP-MABS Microinsurance Partners Recognized at Gabi ng Parangal

February 1, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Insurance Commission Commissioner Emmanuel Dooc

Insurance Commission Commissioner Emmanuel Dooc delivers his message during the ceremony

To culminate Microinsurance Month, the Insurance Commission spearheaded an awarding ceremony themed “Gabi ng Parangal at Pasasalamat sa mga Tagapagtaguyod ng Microinsurance” to recognize organizations promoting microinsurance in the country. The awarding ceremony was held on January 31 at the Philippine International Convention Center.

Three partner insurance providers and two participating banks of the United States Agency for International Development-supported Rural Bankers Association of the Philippines-Microenterprise Access to Banking Services (RBAP-MABS) Program were among those recognized during the ceremony. Country Bankers Life Insurance Corporation, Pioneer Insurance, and Philippine Prudential Life Inc., were cited as outstanding life and non-life commercial companies while the Rural Bank of Talisayan and Katipunan Bank were recognized for their mutual benefit associations.

Since 2008, RBAP-MABS has been collaborating with rural banks and the regulatory institutions to improve access to insurance options of low-income households. To do this, RBAP-MABS works with the insurance-providers on product options that can be made available to the rural bank clients while training and assisting rural banks with the licensing process of the Insurance Commission (IC) and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). To date, 354 rural bank officers and staff from 168 rural banks have completed the Basic Microinsurance Training Course and 61 banks are in the approval process of IC and BSP. Today, more than 472,600 rural bank clients and their household members are now availing microinsurance services through 128 rural bank offices.

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

RBAP-MABS Participating Banks Mark New Milestone in Microfinance

January 20, 2012 By Leave a Comment

The Rural Bankers Association of the Philippines-Microenterprise Access to Banking Services (RBAP-MABS) Program was launched in 1997. The Program – supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Rural Bankers Association of the Philippines (RBAP), with oversight provided by the Mindanao Development Authority – assists rural banks to develop the capability to profitably provide financial services – microloans, microdeposits, microinsurance, and remittances – to the microenterprise sector. During its fourteen years of operation, the Program has also introduced innovations, both in delivery channels by pioneering and expanding mobile phone services and in helping rural banks to develop new microfinance products to serve small farmers (through the micro agri-loan product) and finance construction and housing improvement (through housing microfinace products).

Since 1997, the Program has worked with over 120 banks with more than 1,300 branches and other banking offices in the developing microfinance products, including microloans, microdeposits, micro-agri lending, housing microfinance, mobile banking, and microinsurance. These initiatives have allowed MABS participating banks to expand and offer new microfinance products and services to their clients.

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Mobile Financial Services: The Bank of Tanzania learns from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas

January 6, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Alliance for Financial Inclusion - In December 2009, there were an estimated 15 million mobile phones in Tanzania, with 45% of the population having access to a mobile phone. This growth in phone penetration spurred mobile network operators (MNOs) to launch mobile financial services to serve this rapidly growing customer base. At the end of 2009, more than 2.5 million Tanzanians had become mobile payment (m-payment) customers.

Mobile money services in Tanzania developed in a regulatory
environment without a National Payment Systems Act and
existing guidelines for electronic payment schemes did not
provide adequate guidance on mobile financial services.
When MNOs first approached the Bank of Tanzania (BOT) with
proposals for providing m-payment services, the BOT advised
them to partner with commercial banks to deliver these
services.

Mobile money services in Tanzania developed in a regulatory environment without a National Payment Systems Act and existing guidelines for electronic payment schemes did not provide adequate guidance on mobile financial services. When MNOs first approached the Bank of Tanzania (BOT) with proposals for providing m-payment services, the BOT advised them to partner with commercial banks to deliver these services. The role of the partner commercial bank would be to house a trust account in which MNOs would deposit m-payment funds. In this arrangement, the commercial bank (an entity traditionally under the jurisdiction of the central bank) would seek a “letter of no objection” from the BOT that would allow the m-payment service to operate. A company would then be appointed to oversee the account and the BOT would reserve the right to audit or check the trust account.

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BSP raises ceiling on micro-credit

January 5, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Business World - THE BANGKO Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has raised the existing cap on microfinance loans to allow banks to provide more financing to clients.

In Circular No. 744 dated Dec. 28 and posted on its Web site yesterday, the BSP added “microenterprise loan plus” or “microfinance plus” to the types of microfinance loans that banks may extend to their clients.

Whereas microfinance loans are capped at P150,000, the microenterprise loan plus or microfinance plus are capped at double that or at P300,000.

“We created the microfinance plus concept in recognition of the success of a growing number of microenterpreneurs,” said BSP Deputy Gov. Nestor A. Espenilla, Jr. in a text message yesterday. “They need bigger loans.”

Pia Roman-Tayag of the BSP’s Inclusive Finance Advocacy Staff, said the P300,000 limit is still less than what traditional banks offer.

She said those who need the bigger loans have been “largely unserved.”

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Rural Banks Prepare for Pricing Transparency

December 21, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Ms. Laila DelesIn preparation for the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) regulation on effective interest rate calculations, Ms. Leila Deles of Microfinance Transparency (MFT) showed how this regulation impacts on how interest rates are disclosed to clients and the profitability of microloans.

Ms. Deles set the context of the session by emphasizing that pricing transparency refers to the terms and the condition where financial products are disclosed to clients in a manner that allows both accurate understanding of prices and comparison of different products. She also provided information on the promotion of transparency, data collection, standardization of pricing calculations, and development of educational materials to support this initiative. More importantly, MFT consulted with regulators and policy makers to establish the basis for pricing in the microfinance sector.

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