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RBAP-MABS links rural banks, insurers, MSPs, and ATM and m-banking partners in “speed networking” activity

Throughout its more than  12 years of working to strengthen the Philippine microfinance industry, the USAID-supported RBAP-MABS program has sought innovative methods not only in microfinance product and service delivery, but also in training methods on how to sustain best practices and maintain strong business partnerships.

At the 2011 National Roundtable Conference held in Manila on May 23-24, RBAP-MABS, for the first time, employed a “speed networking” approach to facilitate networking among rural banks and other microfinance partners so as to nurture relationships and explore partnerships and business opportunities. RBAP-MABS brought together partner rural banks, insurance providers, MABS service providers (MSPs), and ATM and m-banking partners in the activity.

About Speed Networking

“Speed networking” is a social and business networking event “based on speed dating and a Jewish tradition of chaperoned gatherings of young Jewish singles, originally intended to keep Jewish singles from marrying out of faith”. (See source: European …

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In the NewsLatest UpdatesMABS Tips

Mobile Phone Banking and New Technologies: Providing New Channels to Serve Clients Better, Faster, and 24/7

Alternative ways of delivering banking services are changing the way rural banks are servicing their clients. Not only that, these innovations are also helping the Philippine Government reach families at the bottom of the economic pyramid.

During the 2011 RBAP-MABS National Roundtable Conference, rural banks shared how technology has been useful to them in expanding microfinance services.  As of May 2011, more than 160,000 rural bank clients have processed more than PhP10 billion (US$220 million) in mobile phone banking transactions via the GCASH platform.

Banking practices have been evolving and expanding coverage geographically, as well as in terms of network, client base, and products and services being offered to clients.  Mobile phone banking services were first introduced to rural banks through an effort promoted by the RBAP-MABS program back in 2004.

From left: Lt. Gen. William Hotchkiss III (Ret.) of Cantilan Bank, Ms. Ma. Cecilia Tanael of the Rural Bank of Mabitac, and Ms. Cynthia Rudinas of First Valley Bank

From left: Lt. Gen. William Hotchkiss III (Ret.) of Cantilan Bank, Ms. Ma. Cecilia Tanael of the Rural Bank

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In the NewsMABS Tips

Updates on the BAP-Credit Bureau

Mr. Leonilo ‘Topper’ Coronel, Managing Director of the Bankers Association of the Philippines Credit Bureau (BAP-CB), presented the private credit bureau’s latest changes and activities to participants of the 2011 RBAP-MABS National Roundtable last May 23-24 in Manila. He shared the latest developments in the effort of BAP-CB and a consortium of microfinance institutions’ (MFIs) to build a responsive credit information system for the microfinance sector. (see Philippine Star article)

He reported the over 60% growth in the number of participating rural banks from 28 to 46 in May 2011, attributing this increase to the BAP-CB’s efforts to reach out to rural bank federations in the country, and the assistance of the USAID-supported RBAP-MABS Program.

He also underscored the enhancements in the bureau’s Negative File Information System (NFIS) particularly its accessibility via the Internet, which allows the credit bureau to automatically process requests on a daily basis, even on non-working …

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MABS HighlightsMABS Tips

How to Avoid an India-type Microfinance Crisis in the Philippines

As prologue to the BSP’s (Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas) National Microfinance Stakeholders Summit held on April 5, the Rural Bankers Association of the Philippines Microenterprise Access to Banking Services (RBAP-MABS) with support from USAID/Philippines and the Microfinance Council of the Philippines (MCPI) jointly held a pre-summit seminar on April 4 discussing “How to Avoid an India-type Microfinance Crisis in the Philippines”.

Opening the forum, RBAP President Corazon Miller described the India microfinance crisis as “a wake-up call for microfinance practitioners in the Philippines to begin the proactive process of strengthening transparency, following consumer protection practices, improving governance, and becoming better at communicating the value of Microfinance services.”

Led by Ms. Elisabeth Rhyne, Managing Director of ACCION International’s Center for Financial Inclusion and organized for the microfinance stakeholders in the Philippines particularly rural banks, NGOs, credit cooperatives and others, the seminar provided interesting discussions on some of the issues …

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MABS Tips

New Developments in the BAP-Credit Bureau

By: MABS Microfinance Specialist Bernabe Bunao Jr.

One of the keys to successful lending operations is to properly screen out clients who are over-indebted or with poor credit histories. This is becoming increasingly important as the sector becomes more competitive than ever before.  A useful tool to manage and mitigate these inherent risks is through the practice of credit sharing among lenders.  Rural banks are fortunate to have the opportunity to make use of private credit bureaus such as the Bankers Association of the Philippines – Credit Bureau (BAP-CB).
BAP-Credit Bureau offers functional online credit information services that pave the way for quick credit decisions. The technology is homegrown as the tool is in response to rural banks’ requirements that are comprehensive and integrated with a secure database.

One of the keys to successful lending operations is to properly screen out clients who are over-indebted or with poor credit histories. …

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MABS HighlightsMABS Tips

Marketing Guru Mike Rios shares secrets to successful marketing with rural bankers

After his successful marketing strategies session during the 2010 RBAP-MABS National Roundtable Conference in Manila, marketing guru Mike Rios came back to the Philippines to share effective marketing strategies with the Philippine rural banks.

A former Nike and Coca-Cola creative adman, Mr. Rios believes that marketing has a greater purpose – that if it can sell cigarettes, fast food, and “brown sugar water” to the masses, it can also help motivate people to live healthier, wealthier, and happier lives as well. A big idea writer and strategist, he’s done work for ANZ Bank, Forte Insurance, MTV Exit, PSI, UNICEF, WING and is the Lead Social Marketing Consultant for the US non-profit Microfinance Opportunities (MFO).

On February 15, 19 officers and staffers from eight RBAP member rural banks gathered at the RBAP Building in Manila to learn about successful marketing for their products and services from Mr. Rios. He gave an …

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MABS TipsMicroinsurance

Options for Microinsurance Sales and Servicing

MABS Microinsurance Coordinator, Ruth Aseron shares lessons learned during the RBAP-MABS Regional Roundtable Conference 2010.

The RBAP-MABS Regional Roundtable Conferences in Manila and Davao each featured a session on Microinsurance that sought to provide participants insights on the various distribution models which rural banks are allowed to adopt.  Presented were perspectives on how rural banks should formalize its microinsurance distribution operations in compliance with the provisions of the National Regulatory Framework and with regulations issued by the Insurance Commission (IC) and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). The session focused especially on Section 6 of the Microinsurance National Regulatory Framework, which provides entities engaged in informal insurance or insurance-like activities three (3) options to formalize their microinsurance operations:

Become an agent or broker of a licensed microinsurance company
Partnering with a third-party broker or agent to offer microinsurance
Join an existing MBA or Cooperative Insurance Society (CIS)
  1. Become an agent
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MABS Tips

The Benefits of the BAP-Credit Bureau for Rural Banks

Getting accurate, timely and objective credit information in a cost efficient way is one of the serious challenges that rural banks with microfinance operations face in making credit decisions.  The long-standing practice of pre-screening a loan application through field information gathering is costly and slow, and delays loan approval process. It is anticipated that a national credit information system mandated by the Credit Information System Act (or CISA) will help in addressing this challenge. However, getting the system up and running may still take sometime.

Meanwhile, rural banks can turn to the existing credit information services offered by the Bankers Association of the Philippines – Credit Bureau Inc. (BAP-CB). During the 53rd RBAP Charter Symposium on October 14-15, 2010 BAP-CB officer Manuel Batallones, reiterated the strong interest of the BAP-CB to support  rural banks’ credit information needs as their way of supporting the rural banks and especially the microfinance sector.  …

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MABS Tips

Marketing Tips for Reaching Microfinance Clients

Mr. Mike Rios of Microfinance Opportunities livened up the audience at the 2010 RBAP-MABS National Roundtable Conference in Manila on June 3rd with an entertaining and informative presentation on marketing strategies.

“Market like your customer, not like your ‘Mom’” was the first of his three rules of marketing new products. Too often, marketers focus on the benefits that are not tangible to the customer, pretty much like moms lecturing about the benefits of vitamins to their children. Imagining what it is like to be a customer should drive design, branding and marketing decisions. Think of how Flintstones vitamins changed the way vitamins were marketed to children.

Mr. Rios’ second rule is: “Make your product easy to try, buy, and know ‘what’s in it for me’.” A product can have great brand recognition, but if customers do not know what the product does or how it benefits …

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MABS Tips

Credit Scoring System, Netbooks, and new Mobile Phone Banking App introduced at the RBAP-MABS National Roundtable

Several technological developments for support and expansion of microfinance services were presented during the 2010 RBAP-MABS National Roundtable Conference held in Manila on June 2-3, 2010.

Ms. Rebecca Hughes, Philippines Country Director of Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA), first introduced a credit scoring model and automated loan application process via netbooks. The new loan application process via netbooks allows loan Account Officers to quickly and easily upload and prepare loan applications from the field. In addition, IPA has also added a credit scoring system into the application to better predict the borrower’s likelihood of repayment based on certain indicators such as the borrower’s background, cash flow, debt capacity and past repayment patterns of comparable borrowers. For the staff and clients, the netbooks help speed up the processing of loan applications in the field.

While Ms. Hughes cautioned that not every bank will be able to implement the credit scoring system …

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