To our participating rural banks:
On October 14, the BSP issued Circular no. 694: Amendment of Regulations on the Establishment of Other Banking Offices and Notes to Microfinance: BSP Circular 694 (signed document).
These were shared during the recent RBAP-MABS Regional Roundtable Conferences in Manila by Ms. Pia Roman and in Davao by Ms. Rochelle Tomas. (click to view presentation)
The new guidelines dramatically expand the range of financial services that Microfinance-Oriented Other Banking Offices (MBOS) can offer including:
- Accepting micro-deposits including initial deposit
- Accepting check deposits of microfinance clients for collection and credit to own deposit accounts
- Disbursing/releasing proceeds of micro-loans and collect loan amortization payments and related charges
- Presenting, marketing, selling and servicing microinsurance products
- Receiving/paying out funds in connection with authorized remittance transactions
- Acting as cash/money in and cash/money out outlet for electronic money (e-money) transactions
- Collecting premiums/pay out benefits from/to members of social security institutions such as the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) (GSIS), Social Security System (SSS), other government authorized pension and benefit systems, Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) and Employees Compensation Commission (ECC)
- Paying out benefits under government-sponsored conditional cash transfer schemes
- Accepting utilities payments
- Purchasing foreign currencies up to the maximum equivalent of USD300 per client per day for credit to micro-deposit accounts
In order to offer these services at existing OBOs, rural banks were reminded of the December 3, 2010 deadline for submission to the BSP about which OBOs the rural banks planned to convert into Microfinance-Oriented Other Banking Offices. In order to assist rural banks in signifying their intention to declare OBOs as Microfinance-Oriented Other Banking Offices, the RBAP-MABS program prepared the following templates for rural banks to use in their submissions to the BSP:
- Template Letter of Intent & Pre-qualification
- Circ.694 Table 1 – Products & Services for MBO
- Template Circ. 694 Strat Plan on MBOs
We remind all rural banks with existing OBOs where microfinance services are being offered to submit the letter of intent and table of products and services to the BSP as soon as possible. For advice, support or more information, please feel free to contact Mr. Jove Tapiador (for all rural banks located in Luzon), Ms. Girlie Lopez (for all rural banks located in the Visayas), and Mr. Mark Guillermo (for all rural banks located in Mindanao).