Tag: international study visits

MABS Highlights

Delegates from Pacific Islands study Philippine mobile phone banking

A joint study group of 9 members from the Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI) and the Pacific Island Central Bankers visited the Philippines on June 21-23, 2010 to learn about Philippine mobile phone banking. Specifically, they were interested in the regulatory approach adopted by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) for its successful implementation.

RBAP-MABS, a USAID-supported program, presented to the study group its experiences with rural banks and microfinance clients in developing and implementing its mobile phone banking initiatives using the GCASH platform. The RBAP-MABS team also shared the lessons learned over the past 5 years or so of experience. To date, there are already 62 rural banks with 906 branches offering mobile phone banking services to their clients in the countryside.

The study tour, led by Ms. Alyson Slater from Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI), is composed of officials from the Reserve Bank of Fiji, Central Bank of …

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MABS Highlights

India’s Bankers Institute of Rural Development (BIRD) studies Philippine microfinance

Eight officers from India’s Bankers Institute of Rural Development (BIRD), along with two officers from the Agricultural Credit Policy Council (ACPC), visited the Philippines on February 8-13 to study the country’s microfinance industry.

Facilitated by the Rural Bankers Research and Development Foundation, Inc. (RBRDFI), the study tour introduced the participants to the Philippine microfinance industry’s best practices and innovative technologies. It included visits to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), People’s Credit and Finance Corporation, Land Bank of the Philippines, Center for Agricultural and Rural Development-Mutually Reinforcing Institutions (CARD-MRI), Cooperative Rural Bank of Bulacan, and the Rural Bankers Association of the Philippines-Microenterprise Access to Banking Services (RBAP-MABS).

RBAP-MABS presented the training and technical services that it provides to its participating banks, as well as its innovative contributions to the country’s microfinance industry.

Established in 1983 by India’s National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), BIRD is an institute which …

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Central Bank of Afghanistan takes a look at the Philippine Mobile Phone Banking Environment

Officials from the Central Bank of Afghanistan visited the Philippines on January 12-15 to study the mobile phone banking offered by rural banks, meet with mobile money operators, and understand the regulations about mobile money and mobile phone banking services in the Philippines.

In coordination with the Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI) and the Rural Bankers Research and Development Foundation Inc. (RBRDFI), the study tour included visits to RBAP-MABS, the Central Bank of the Philippines (Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas / BSP), Smart Communications, G-Xchange Inc., and GM Bank, a MABS participating bank based in Nueva Ecija.

The Afghan representatives were particularly interested in the country’s mobile phone banking services and mobile money platforms including how these services are expanding banking services to the underbanked and unbanked sector. They studied the success factors in the Philippine market, as well as the regulatory framework that made the Philippines a successful model for …

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MABS Highlights

MABS Featured in Four-Country Study Visit to the Philippines

MABS presented to executives from India, Nepal, Thailand, and the Philippines in the recent study visit arranged by the Asia-Pacific Rural and Agricultural Credit Association (APRACA). The participants represented organizations from India, inluding Andhra Bank, the State Bank of India (Mumbai), the State Bank of Mysore (Bangalore), Reserve Bank of India, and Punjab National Bank; from Thailand, the Bank of Thailand; from Nepal, the Nepal Rastra Bank; and from the Philippines, the Agricultural Credit Policy Council.

The briefing focused on MABS Approach to microfinance and mobile phone banking for microfinance clients.…

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MABS Highlights

Egyptian business, finance, and bank specialists enrich Mobile Banking knowledge thru MABS experience

MABS highlighted the Program’s mobile phone banking best practices in a recent presentation to Egyptian executives from USAID Egypt, General Authority for Investment and Free Zones (Ministry of Investment), Egyptian Insurance Supervisory Authority, Dakahleya Businessmen Association for Community Development, First Microfinance Foundation (Aga Khan), and the Egypt Microenterprise Finance Project.

The Egyptian representatives aim to improve their country’s mobile phone banking services thru the successful gains and challenges resolved in the Philippine m-banking sector as shared by the MABS Program.…