Success Stories
Mobile banking expands access in rural communities
Cantilan Bank identified the upland area of Ban-ban - a small sitio in Barangay Paniquian of Carrascal town – as one of the places to promote their Text-A-Payment service. Banban is relatively hard to reach due to rough, dusty roads that zigzag and are quite steep at some stretches.
Spreading Her Peanut Butter’s Sweet Success
Mrs. Jennilyn Antonio may be at the right place at the right time when her idea fairy experienced a spark of insight.
It was one of those ordinary days at the grocery store when she laid her eyes on some dried peanuts for kare-kare (a Filipino dish) on display. She thought, “If I added some sugar and salt to these, would I get peanut butter? What if I do try it?”
A Downpour of Blessings from Dry Goods Retailing
In 1999, Anunciacion Santillan used a mere folding bed along the sidewalk as display area for the dry goods she sold. Back then, life was not easy - she and her husband worked hard but still earned barely enough for themselves.
Less than a decade after, she now owns six merchandize stalls in the Bantayan public market in Bantayan Island, Cebu. The change for the better was borne of hard work, perseverance, financial discipline, and a little outside help.
From Rags to Reaching New Heights through Mobile Payments
Hazel is a seamstress at Bibota Industries, a garments shop that began many years ago making rags that sold at 2 US cents per piece. With the help of microfinance loans through Green Bank, the company gained reliable and prompt access to credit which kept the business going and growing.
Mobile Money Expands Pizza Business
Mrs. Sheila Milan owns W’s Pizza, a pizza parlor with branches in three Mindanao towns (Cantilan, Madrid, and Tandag). In March 2007, Sheila, a borrower and depositor of Cantilan Bank since 2005, agreed to become a bank partner-merchant and started accepting GCASH from her customers. Since then, Sheila has seen her sales expand because of mobile payments.
Mobile Phone Banking Services Expand Business Opportunities in Surigao del Sur
Loida Llamas owns and operates Pawnshop de Madrid – Madrid, Surigao del Sur’s “homegrown” pawnshop. On the side, she makes and sells trinkets and fashion accessories. Loida, a depositor of Cantilan Bank, decided to accept GCASH from her customers in March 2007; she now uses the mobile phone banking services of the bank for practically all of her business transactions.
Making the World Go Round thru Caps, Food, and Music
What would a mother give to feed her family’s hunger for food, knowledge, and music?
Estela Lagunzad and her family have taken root in Tacloban City, Leyte, very near the Eastern Visayas Regional Medical Center where her husband used to work as a minimum-waged security guard. Besides personally taking care of the family, she had to man their sari-sari (retail) store and, on the side, had sold Natasha, Tupperware, and Avon products. Mindful of their children’s future, she had to find ways to augment her husband’s low income so they can better provide for their children’s needs.
Will on wheels
Mr. Elino Andres is a former overseas Filipino worker (OFW) who, upon his return home, tried his hand on entrepreneurship. He started by driving a jeepney from which his income proved inadequate, so he shifted to selling fish in the public market. Being naturally charismatic, Mr. Andres accumulated a number of loyal patrons or “suki” who he later discovered were into the poultry business. He took advantage of this connection and started peddling eggs using a motorcycle and a couple of coolers.
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