RBAP trains more rural bankers as Microinsurance agents

April 2, 2011 By Leave a Comment

1On March 31, the USAID-supported RBAP-MABS program and the microinsurance team of the Rural Bankers Research and Development Foundation Inc. (RBRDFI) conducted the 3rd Microinsurance Basic Training for rural banks with the support of the ILO Microinsurance Innovation Facility. The training was aimed at building the capability of rural bank staff to qualify them as microinsurance agents or brokers so that their bank can market, sell and service microinsurance products.

Twenty-five participants from 13 rural banks attended the training course at the Lotus Garden Hotel in Ermita, Manila.  A mix of rural bank executives, managers, microfinance officers and front-end bank staff went through the course designed to ensure that staff understand microinsurance fundamentals and the relevant regulations for distribution and servicing of microinsurance products.

The training culminated in a qualifying exam, which all participants successfully completed.  This will qualify each trainee for designation as the bank’s microinsurance soliciting officer.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) recently expanded the definition of microfinance to include micro-deposits, which are effectively being offered by all rural banks.  This broadens the opportunity for rural banks to offer microinsurance to more clients rather than only focusing on those with a current microfinance loans.  The event also included a discussion on the new BSP requirements for micro-deposit accounts so that banks could properly classify their micro-deposit account holders.

To date, 26 rural banks have undergone the RBAP-RBRDFI Microinsurance Basic Training Course since it was first launched in January 2011.  With the RBAP partners’ expression of support at the 3rd Microinsurance Roundtable Meeting on March 29, RBAP-MABS will be continuing its consultations with the Insurance Commission and its partner, the Philippine Life Insurance Association (PLIA), on further enhancements to the RBAP training program.

The 4th Microinsurance Basic Training is scheduled on April 27-28 at the Golden Prince Hotel in Cebu City.  To register or learn more information about the next course in Cebu or to learn about upcoming courses in your region, please contact:

Ms. Ghay Lyne Mapano
RBRDFI Project Coordinator
0918-635-3235
(02) 527-2968
gpmapano@yahoo.com

Ms. Ruth Aseron
MABS Microinsurance Coordinator
0917-881-0481
(02) 400-0940
microinsurance@rbapmabs.org

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

More rural banks complete training for Microinsurance agent licensing

March 5, 2011 By 1 Comment

MI training for La Union Fed 1

Eight more rural banks successfully completed the two-day Basic Microinsurance Training Course conducted on March 3-4 by the Rural Bankers Research and Development Foundation Inc (RBRDFI) and the USAID-supported RBAP-MABS program. This is in addition to the pilot batch of nine banks trained by RBRDFI on January 27-28.

MI training for La Union Fed 2The training fulfills an important requirement for these rural banks to proceed to the other steps required by the Insurance Commission (IC) and Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) for licensing banks as agents or brokers of formal insurance providers.  The training is part of the package of services that RBRDFI and RBAP-MABS have put together to provide assistance to member-rural banks in the process of getting an agent’s or broker’s license for microinsurance.

Encompassing Microinsurance 101 topics, the training culminated in a qualifying exam that all 29 participants successfully passed.  The banks will have to go through one more day of product mastery training with their respective insurance provider. The regulatory criteria and requirements are found in BSP Circular 683-2010 and Insurance Memo Circular 6-2011.

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RBRDFI conducts first Microinsurance Basic Training Course for rural banks

January 29, 2011 By Leave a Comment
012711-012811 MI Agent Literacy Training for Pilot Banks_1

MABS Microinsurance Coordinator Ruth Aseron was among the facilitators of the first Microinsurance Basic Training Course for Rural Banks

In recognition of January as the country’s Microinsurance month, the Rural Bankers Research and Development Foundation Inc. (RBRDFI), with support from the USAID-supported RBAP-MABS program, conducted the first microinsurance basic training course for rural banks on January 27-28, 2011.  Training participants were composed of executive officers, managers, staff and field supervisors from nine rural banks that signed up as pilots for the RBRDFI Microinsurance Initiative, which is supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation through the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) Microinsurance Innovation Facility.

This Microinsurance Basic Training Course for Rural Banks is for RBAP members to understand the step-by-step guide and tools that will aid interested and qualified rural banks to properly complete the licensing and approval process prescribed by the Insurance Commission, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). After successful completion of the course training and the examination, participants will be certified as trained by RBAP, qualifying them as microinsurance soliciting officers for their respective banks.

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

The rural banking industry partnering to expand micro-insurance

August 19, 2010 By Leave a Comment
RBAP’s research and training arm, the Rural Bankers Research and Development Foundation, Inc. (RBRDFI), will receive a US$ 100,000 grant from the Interna-tional Labor Organization (ILO) under the Micro-insurance Inno-vation Facility. This collaboration aims to support RBAP members in partnering with insurance compa-nies to offer micro-insurance.
Housed at the ILO’s Social Finance Programme, the Micro-insurance Innovation Facility seeks to increase the availability of quality insurance for the developing world’s low-income families, helping them guard against risks and overcome poverty. The Facility facility was launched in 2008 with the support of a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
This new partnership with the ILO will support training and technical assistance for rural banks to become licensed micro-insurance agents. It will help provide micro-insurance access to potentially millions of rural bank clients and their dependents. This initiative will also support RBRDFI in offering a turnkey approach to ensure rural banks’ cost-efficient compliance with licensing and capability-building requirements as institutional micro-insurance agents. Rural banks will facilitate marketing, selling and servicing of micro-insurance, with the commercial insurance companies issuing the policies.
The partnership with the ILO and the Gates Foundation will expand RBAP’s intiativeinitiative to provide support to member rural banks and reinforces the unique position and important role that rural banks across the country have in providing social protection to the most vulnerable. Through micro-insurance, rural banks would be able tocan provide the assurance and protection that in case of a peril or tragedy, the poor will not become poorer or those who have succeeded in improving their lives will not become impoverished once again.

Manila Times – RBAP’s research and training arm, the Rural Bankers Research and Development Foundation, Inc. (RBRDFI), will receive a US$ 100,000 grant from the Interna-tional Labor Organization (ILO) under the Micro-insurance Inno-vation Facility. This collaboration aims to support RBAP members in partnering with insurance compa-nies to offer micro-insurance.

Housed at the ILO’s Social Finance Programme, the Micro-insurance Innovation Facility seeks to increase the availability of quality insurance for the developing world’s low-income families, helping them guard against risks and overcome poverty. The Facility facility was launched in 2008 with the support of a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

This new partnership with the ILO will support training and technical assistance for rural banks to become licensed micro-insurance agents. It will help provide micro-insurance access to potentially millions of rural bank clients and their dependents. This initiative will also support RBRDFI in offering a turnkey approach to ensure rural banks’ cost-efficient compliance with licensing and capability-building requirements as institutional micro-insurance agents. Rural banks will facilitate marketing, selling and servicing of micro-insurance, with the commercial insurance companies issuing the policies.

The partnership with the ILO and the Gates Foundation will expand RBAP’s intiativeinitiative to provide support to member rural banks and reinforces the unique position and important role that rural banks across the country have in providing social protection to the most vulnerable. Through micro-insurance, rural banks would be able tocan provide the assurance and protection that in case of a peril or tragedy, the poor will not become poorer or those who have succeeded in improving their lives will not become impoverished once again.

Read the complete article on Manila Times online.

Filed Under: In the News, Microinsurance Tagged With: , , , ,

ILO, Gates Foundation assist rural banks

August 17, 2010 By Leave a Comment
The Rural Bankers Research and Development Foundation Inc. (RBRDFI) will receive a $100,000 (roughly P4.6 million) grant from the International Labor Organization (ILO) under the Microinsurance Innovation Facility. The facility was launched in 2008 with the support of a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
On the other hand, the RBRDFI is the research and training arm of the Rural Bankers Association of the Philippines (RBAP), which has gained international attention in its efforts in microfinance, mobile banking and poverty alleviation.
The grant will support RBAP members in partnering with insurance companies to offer microinsurance to its six million bank clients nationwide.
“With the help the facility, rural banks can introduce quality insurance for the low-income families, thus helping them guard against risks and overcome poverty,” the ILO said in a statement released by the Microenterprise Access to Banking Services (MABS) Program. The program is a joint effort of the United States Agency for international Development (USAID) and the RBAP.
Read the complete article on Philippine Star online

Philippine Star – The Rural Bankers Research and Development Foundation Inc. (RBRDFI) will receive a $100,000 (roughly P4.6 million) grant from the International Labor Organization (ILO) under the Microinsurance Innovation Facility. The facility was launched in 2008 with the support of a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

On the other hand, the RBRDFI is the research and training arm of the Rural Bankers Association of the Philippines (RBAP), which has gained international attention in its efforts in microfinance, mobile banking and poverty alleviation.

The grant will support RBAP members in partnering with insurance companies to offer microinsurance to its six million bank clients nationwide.

“With the help the facility, rural banks can introduce quality insurance for the low-income families, thus helping them guard against risks and overcome poverty,” the ILO said in a statement released by the Microenterprise Access to Banking Services (MABS) Program. The program is a joint effort of the United States Agency for international Development (USAID) and the RBAP.

Read the complete article on Philippine Star online

Filed Under: In the News, Microinsurance Tagged With: , , , ,