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.