RBAP-MABS Convenes Partners during a Regional Roundtable Conference in Manila

November 10, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Regional Roundtable Conference

Over ninety participants from rural banks and other private sector partners gathered for the annual Regional Roundtable of the Rural Bankers Association of the Philippines-Microenterprise Access to Banking Services (RBAP-MABS), a program supported by the  United States Agency for International Development (USAID), last November 9 at the Hyatt Hotel and Casino Manila.

This year’s theme, “MABS Participating Banks: Moving Forward into the Future”, highlighted emerging issues and topics relevant to the expansion and continuation of microfinance services by the rural banks in the years to come. The event discussed pricing transparency, the developments and updates on credit reference sharing, strategic partnerships, savings mobilization, micro-insurance, and the latest local and international developments in mobile banking services.

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MABS Conducts Training of Service Providers

October 7, 2011 By Leave a Comment
A Training of Trainers (ToT) Workshop was conducted by the United States Agency for International Development-supported Rural Bankers Association of the Philippines-Microenterprise Access to Banking Services (RBAP-MABS) Program last October 6 at the RBAP Building, Intramuros, Manila. The ToT Workshop ensured the proper presentation and use of RBAP-MABS training materials developed and compiled by the Program in the almost 14 year history to develop the capacity of participating rural banks to expand the microfinance operations.
Ten participants from MABS Service Providers (MSP) – private consulting firms licensed to provide MABS training and technical services, were present during the workshop. MICRA Philippines, Punla sa Tao Foundation, Seed Finance Corporation, and individual consultants were represented during the activity. The ToT focused on two training courses developed by MABS: Expansion Strategy through micro-banking offices; and Delinquency and Fraud Management.
To complete their training on the course for Delinquency and Fraud Management, some of the ToT participants attended the training for rural banks held on October 12 to 15 and facilitated some of the sessions. The participants are further required to facilitate and implement one of the MABS modules with a rural bank. RBAP-MABS will certify the trainers for the training modules they are qualified to offer.

DSCN5187A Training of Trainers (ToT) Workshop was conducted by the United States Agency for International Development-supported Rural Bankers Association of the Philippines-Microenterprise Access to Banking Services (RBAP-MABS) Program last October 6 at the RBAP Building, Intramuros, Manila. The ToT Workshop ensured the proper presentation and use of RBAP-MABS training materials developed and compiled by the Program in the almost 14 year history to develop the capacity of participating rural banks to expand the microfinance operations.

Ten participants from MABS Service Providers (MSP) – private consulting firms licensed to provide MABS training and technical services, were present during the workshop. MICRA Philippines, Punla sa Tao Foundation, SEEDFinance Corporation, and individual consultants were represented during the activity. The ToT focused on two training courses developed by MABS: Expansion Strategy through micro-banking offices; and Delinquency and Fraud Management.

To complete their training on the course for Delinquency and Fraud Management, some of the ToT participants attended the training for rural banks held on October 12 to 15 and facilitated some of the sessions. The participants are further required to facilitate and implement one of the MABS modules with a rural bank. RBAP-MABS will certify the trainers for the training modules they are qualified to offer.

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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.

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Training Announcements

January 31, 2011 By Leave a Comment
PUNLA SA TAO
MF Management and Supervisory Training
March 16-18 (Davao City)
Account Officers Refresher Course
June 15-17 (Bicol)
November 16-18 (Northern and Central Luzon)
Housing Microfinance Training
September 14-16 (Manila)
ILO-Making Microfinance Work for MFIs
April 18-22 (Manila)

Here are the upcoming trainings to be conducted by MABS service providers (MSPs) Punla sa Tao Foundation (Punla) and Microfinance Innovation Center for Resources and Alternatives (MICRA) Philippines:

Punla sa Tao Foundation (Punla)

  • MF Management and Supervisory Training
    • March 16-18 (Davao City)
  • Account Officers Refresher Course
    • June 15-17 (Bicol)
    • November 16-18 (Northern and Central Luzon)
  • Housing Microfinance Training
    • September 14-16 (Manila)
  • ILO-Making Microfinance Work for MFIs
    • April 18-22 (Manila)

Microfinance Innovation Center for Resources and Alternatives (MICRA) Philippines

February 2011 Trainings

1. MICRA Training on Microfinance: (Simultaneous Trainings)
Date: Feb 2-4 (Wed-Fri)
Venue: Manila
  • Refresher Course for Loan Officers: The Importance of Loan Officers in Managing Portfolio Quality
  • Training Course for New Account Officers
  • Human Resource Management for MFIs Training
2. MICRA Training on Microfinance: (Simultaneous Trainings)
Date: Feb 9-11 (Wed- Fri)
Venue: Cagayan de Oro City
  • Training on Collateral Appraisal and Valuation for MFIs
  • Training Course for New Account Officers
  • Human Resource Management for MFIs Training
3. MICRA Training on Microfinance: (Simultaneous Trainings)
Date: Feb 16-18 (Wed- Fri)
Venue: Dagupan City
  • Refresher Course for Loan Officers: The Importance of Loan Officers in Managing Portfolio Quality
  • Developing Housing Microfinance Loan Products and Lending Procedures (for Cooperatives and NGOs only)
  • Human Resource Management for MFIs Training
4. MICRA Training on Microfinance: (Simultaneous Trainings)
Date: Feb 22-24 (Wed- Thurs)
Venue: Manila
  • Training on Collateral Appraisal and Valuation for MFIs
  • Internal Control for MFIs Course
  • Developing Housing Microfinance Loan Products and Lending Procedures (for Cooperatives and NGOs only)

March 2011 Trainings

5. MICRA Training on Microfinance: (Simultaneous Trainings)
Date: March 2-4 (Wed- Fri)
Venue: Lucena, Quezon
  • Portfolio Management: Preventive and Remedial Measures Against Delinquency
  • Microfinance and Disaster Management: Enhancing the MFIs Capacity to Respond to Natural Disasters
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Mobile Phone Banking Channel Management Initiative Update

December 17, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Together with its selected partner rural banks and the Microfinance Innovation Center for Resources and Alternatives (MICRA) Philippines, the USAID-supported RBAP-MABS Program began the pilot phase of its Mobile Phone Banking Channel Management Project on November 15, 2010.The team visited two of its four pilot banks for the project – Bangko Kabayan and Cantilan Bank – in December to check out how the project is going.
On December 9 and 10, RBAP-MABS visited and interviewed the channel officers, merchant-partners, and clients of Batangas-based Bangko Kabayan. The team visited the pilot area located in Tingloy Island, Batangas Bay (across Batangas City), which can only be reached by a two-hour boat ride. The merchant and clients interviewed were enthusiastic in supporting the bank’s initiative, especially on the prospect of being able to avail of the bank’s mobile phone banking services via GCash. RBAP-MABS assisted the bank in fine-tuning its marketing plan to better serve the clients in the area. The program will continue to monitor the area’s progress as the pilot rolls out in April 2011.
Meanwhile, the RBAP-MABS team also visited Cantilan Bank in Surigao del Sur on December 14-16.  The bank’s Mobile Channel Officers (MCOs) are alreadymarketingmobile banking services to prospective merchants-partners. Like the other pilot banks for the project, Cantilan Bank also allocated full-time regular personnel to focus on this initiative.
Tingloy Island clients of Bangko Kabayan receive their savings passbooks for the first time

Tingloy Island clients of Bangko Kabayan receive their savings passbooks for the first time

Together with its selected partner rural banks and the Microfinance Innovation Center for Resources and Alternatives (MICRA) Philippines, the USAID-supported RBAP-MABS Program began the pilot phase of its Mobile Phone Banking Channel Management Project on November 15, 2010.The team visited two of its four pilot banks for the project – Bangko Kabayan and Cantilan Bank – in December to check out how the project is going.

On December 9 and 10, RBAP-MABS visited and interviewed the channel officers, merchant-partners, and clients of Batangas-based Bangko Kabayan. The team visited the pilot area located in Tingloy Island, Batangas Bay (across Batangas City), which can only be reached by a two-hour boat ride. The merchant and clients interviewed were enthusiastic in supporting the bank’s initiative, especially on the prospect of being able to avail of the bank’s mobile phone banking services via GCash. RBAP-MABS assisted the bank in fine-tuning its marketing plan to better serve the clients in the area. The program will continue to monitor the area’s progress as the pilot rolls out in April 2011.

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