Webinar on Tools to Address Challenges of Branchless Banking

November 18, 2011 By Leave a Comment
As part of the Consumer Education to Support Uptake and Use of Branchless Banking project, sponsored by the MasterCard Foundation, Microfinance Opportunities will be conducting a webinar on November 29, 2011, at 9:00am EST (10:00pm Manila Time).
The webinar will present the challenges to uptake and usage of Branchless Banking identified through market research studies carried out in the Philippines, India, Malawi and Zambia. Webinar participants will also learn how MFO is addressing branchless banking challenges through a package of tools for consumers and agents intended to drive use of mobile banking and smart card services.
The webinar is aimed at key stakeholders implementing or funding branchless banking initiatives focused on low income markets – donor community, financial service provider such as banks or microfinance organizations, telecoms, payment platform providers, associations like GSMA.
Webinar Registration inquires must be sent to the following address: mfo-temp@mfopps.org

As part of the Consumer Education to Support Uptake and Use of Branchless Banking project, sponsored by the MasterCard Foundation, Microfinance Opportunities will be conducting a webinar on November 29, 2011, at 9:00am EST (10:00pm Manila Time).

The webinar will present the challenges to uptake and usage of Branchless Banking identified through market research studies carried out in the Philippines, India, Malawi and Zambia. Webinar participants will also learn how MFO is addressing branchless banking challenges through a package of tools for consumers and agents intended to drive use of mobile banking and smart card services.

The webinar is aimed at key stakeholders implementing or funding branchless banking initiatives focused on low income markets – donor community, financial service provider such as banks or microfinance organizations, telecoms, payment platform providers, associations like GSMA.

Webinar Registration inquires must be sent to the following address: mfo-temp@mfopps.org

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Branchless Banking Video from India

June 27, 2010 By Leave a Comment

This video was taken during our recent meeting with FINO organized by Microfinance Opportunities (MFO) with the support of the MasterCard Foundation. FINO and RBAP-MABS are the Asian recepients of a grant to provide financial education to support and expand branchless banking. Special thanks to the team at MFO for arranging this visit.

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Trends and Challenges in Microfinance for this Decade

June 10, 2010 By Leave a Comment
The first panel discussion of the RBAP-MABS National Roundtable Conference, moderated by MABS Chief of Party John Owens, addressed the current trends and challenges in the microfinance industry. Topics ranged from market issues, competition, the regulatory environment and branchless banking.
Ms. Pia Roman-Tayag, the Inclusive Finance Advocacy Staff Head of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), kicked off the panel discussion with a look into the regulatory environment. She began by emphasizing that policy and regulations are not the answer, but they provide the enabling environment and support for the market-based solutions of microfinance. To address the risks of limited technical know-how, inadequate risk management practices and governance issues of the early microfinance era, the BSP set regulations to require banks to develop adequate methodologies, risk management systems and comprehensive governance standards.
Ms. Roman Tayag noted that the current microfinance era has seen a mainstreaming of the industry with commercial investors, new products, technological innovation and a move towards financial inclusion. The current challenges for the banks include the need to find greater efficiencies, become more transparent and develop effective credit underwriting standards. For microfinance clients, she noted that financial literacy and the awareness of consumer rights and redress mechanisms are most important. To meet these new challenges, the BSP must be responsive, especially in light of the new definition of microfinance as addressed earlier in the Governor’s speech. Additionally, BSP will review consumer protection regulations, take action against financial crime and over-indebtedness, and advocate for financial literacy.
The next speaker was Mr. Joseph Omar Andaya, President and CEO of Green Bank and the President of the Rural Bankers Association of the Philippines. Mr. Andaya stressed that the future trend in this industry is the sustainability of the microfinance organization. What does this mean to the rural banks? They must strengthen the controls and monitoring systems with a focus on core values, such as honesty, integrity and customer service excellence. Driven by the need to be more relevant and cost-effective, banks can increase efficiency by decreasing acquisition and maintenance costs through the use of banking kiosks, mobile technology and other new banking channels. They can also out-source non-core activities, such as security, tax advisory services and specialized training. Additionally, banks should have a corporate culture open to change. Also, since most rural banks are family owned and operated, it is imperative that a succession plan be in place as well.
Mr. Tomas Gomez IV, Chairman of the Rural Bankers Research and Development Foundation (RBRDFI) and President of GM Bank, then shared his thoughts on competition. He discussed the growing trend of consolidation in the rural banking industry. It was noted that even though the numbers of banks are consolidating, the number of branches and other banking offices are increasing faster than thrift or commercial bank outlets in the countryside. Additionally, the financial strength of the rural banking sector remains strong. The sector is significantly out-pacing the thrift and commercial banks with a Return on Equity (ROE) of 12.2%. Rural banks are no longer viewed as conduits of government or donor loan programs, and have evolved to become full-fledged financial intermediaries that are more self-reliant on deposits with an average deposit-to-loan ratio of 108%. The opportunities are great in this industry, especially in underserved sectors like microfinance, SMEs, and many rural parts of the countryside.
MABS Chief of Party John Owens added that though the industry faces challenges, each bank has the ability to thrive in this sector. “You can make a difference,” he said as he inspired the crowd of rural bankers. Transforming the organization to meet the new challenges of today’s microfinance industry and recommitting to the organization’s core values can lead each rural bank to success.
Mr. Owens closed the panel session by discussing the new trends in branchless banking. Mr. Owens noted that there is a tremendous opportunity to increase the outreach of microfinance services via mobile channels and partnerships. By tapping into the 15,000 sub-distributors of Globe telecom which are now accredited GCASH cash-in and cash-out merchants, rural banks can effectively expand banking services to more clients than ever before. With a new plan now being put in place to support financial education for branchless banking, through support from Microfinance Opportunities and MasterCard Foundation, rural banks will also have the opportunity to partner with these merchants to help promote mobile phone banking services. Through a “train the trainer” model, the rural bankers will train these merchant-partners to then educate their customers on the value proposition and uses of branchless banking services that will help clients make deposits, withdrawals, and payments available via mobile money. By reducing transaction costs and increasing the convenience of banking services, branchless banking addresses the needs of the microfinance clients while expanding the rural banking sector’s outreach.
To view the presentations from this panel discussion, please click here.
What do you think the most pressing trends and challenges are for your organization? How have you changed your microfinance practices in light of these new developments? Are you considering outsourcing non-core banking services? Are you engaged in branchless banking? Please share your stories by replying to this post and continuing this important discussion.
Until next time, Mabuhay ang Microfinance!

By: Eric Miller, guest blogger

The first panel discussion of the RBAP-MABS National Roundtable Conference, moderated by MABS Chief of Party John Owens, addressed the current trends and challenges in the microfinance industry. Topics ranged from market issues, competition, the regulatory environment and branchless banking.

Pia Roman-TayagMs. Pia Roman-Tayag, the Inclusive Finance Advocacy Staff Head of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), kicked off the panel discussion with a look into the regulatory environment. She began by emphasizing that policy and regulations are not the answer, but they provide the enabling environment and support for the market-based solutions of microfinance. To address the risks of limited technical know-how, inadequate risk management practices and governance issues of the early microfinance era, the BSP set regulations to require banks to develop adequate methodologies, risk management systems and comprehensive governance standards.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: MABS Tips Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

RBAP-MABS Partners with Microfinance Opportunities and The MasterCard Foundation to expand mobile phone banking services

May 28, 2010 By
The Rural Bankers Association of the Philippines (RBAP) through its USAID-supported Microenterprise Access to Banking Services (MABS) Program will now receive support from Microfinance Opportunities (MFO) and The MasterCard Foundation to assist the expansion of mobile phone banking services via increased financial education for customers and clients of rural banks.
Rural Bank Mobile Phone Banking Services Set to Expand in the Philippines
There are already 900 accredited rural bank branches and sub-offices offering mobile phone banking services via the GCASH platform, benefiting 122,000 rural bank clients. More than PhP six billion (US $130 million) in mobile phone banking transactions have been processed by these rural banks and the volume of transactions is increasing.
Through this partnership, RBAP-MABS will further accelerate this growth by renewing the educational campaign for its mobile phone banking initiative. RBAP-MABS will leverage its partnerships with rural banks, Globe and its gateway SMS service provider to develop an improved m-banking toolkit for rural banks officers and staff, their merchant partners and their clients. This toolkit will include instructional videos, web-based distance learning tools and mobile banking guides for improving customer education. RBAP-MABS intends for these materials to be publicly available online, transferrable to and among mobile phones, and deliverable through Internet applications and channels.
RBAP President Joseph Omar Andaya stated, “We are excited about the support from Microfinance Opportunities and The MasterCard Foundation. We look forward to significantly expanding our outreach and using our mobile channel to provide increased access to financial educational tools for our clients.”
Through this project, RBAP-MABS expects to deepen understanding and appreciation of mobile banking in rural areas, and dramatically increase rural banks’ client outreach. RBAP has also recently received  the green light from the BSP to work with Smart and qualified member rural banks to provide Smart Money money-in and money-out services for rural bank clients who are Smart subscribers. It expects that this will further expand domestic remittance services via mobile money in the countryside.
Microfinance Opportunities President and Founder Monique Cohen stated, “We look forward to working with RBAP-MABS to develop financial education that will reach rural communities and prepare them to be more informed consumers of mobile phone banking services and more effective managers of their money.”
“Branchless banking offers people living in rural areas unprecedented access to financial services,” said Reeta Roy, president and CEO of The MasterCard Foundation. “This initiative goes a step further by also providing clients the education needed to understand and take advantage of the opportunity to enter the global market.”
Microfinance Opportunities and The MasterCard Foundation’s Financial Education Program
MFO and The MasterCard Foundation recently announced a three-year financial education program targeting low-income populations in Africa, Asia and Latin America/Caribbean. These populations include youth, women and people living in rural communities. The program’s objective is to strengthen consumers’ understanding of branchless banking and formal financial products and services, and build trust in technology-based financial tools such as mobile phones, ATMs and smart cards.
About Microfinance Opportunities
Microfinance Opportunities (MFO) is a U.S.-based microenterprise resource center that promotes client-led microfinance. It is considered a market leader in financial education for the world’s poor, reaching more than 21 million low-income households through curriculum and mass media channels.
About The MasterCard Foundation
The MasterCard Foundation believes that every person has the potential to transform their lives and to improve the lives of their families and their communities. By increasing access to microfinance and youth education to people in developing countries, the foundation is enabling them to realize their potential and lift themselves out of poverty. The foundation’s vision is to make the economy work for everybody. It is an independent, private foundation based in Toronto, Canada and was established through the generosity of MasterCard Worldwide at the time of the company’s initial public offering in 2006. For more information, see http://www.mastercardfdn.org/.

The Rural Bankers Association of the Philippines (RBAP) through its USAID-supported Microenterprise Access to Banking Services (MABS) Program will now receive support from Microfinance Opportunities (MFO) and The MasterCard Foundation to assist the expansion of mobile phone banking services via increased financial education for customers and clients of rural banks.

Rural Bank Mobile Phone Banking Services Set to Expand in the Philippines

There are already 900 accredited rural bank branches and sub-offices offering mobile phone banking services via the GCASH platform, benefiting 122,000 rural bank clients. More than PhP six billion (US $130 million) in mobile phone banking transactions have been processed by these rural banks and the volume of transactions is increasing.

Through this partnership, RBAP-MABS will further accelerate this growth by renewing the educational campaign for its mobile phone banking initiative. RBAP-MABS will leverage its partnerships with rural banks, Globe and its gateway SMS service provider to develop an improved m-banking toolkit for rural banks officers and staff, their merchant partners and their clients. This toolkit will include instructional videos, web-based distance learning tools and mobile banking guides for improving customer education. RBAP-MABS intends for these materials to be publicly available online, transferrable to and among mobile phones, and deliverable through Internet applications and channels.

[Read more...]

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