BSP receives 700 MBO applications
A CENTRAL bank move to ease bank branching has borne fruit, with banks lodging 700 applications for micro-banking offices (MBOs) with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).
“We have received 700 applications for micro-banking offices, with the majority of the requests coming from rural banks,” said Pia Bernadette Roman-Tayag, BSP inclusive finance advocacy staff head, in an interview at the sidelines of the Rural Bankers Association of the Philippines-Microenterprise Access to Banking Services (RBAP-MABS) National Roundtable Conference at the Hyatt Hotel yesterday.
“The central bank is at present processing 500 of these applications,” she added.
The central bank issued Circular 694 in October 2010 that allowed banks to establish MBOs or MFOs (microfinance-oriented OBOs).
The new rules essentially introduced a new variant of OBOs or other banking offices, which are permitted to do just non-transactional banking functions such as marketing, accepting of loan applications or hosting of automated teller machines.
MBOs or MFOs are allowed to do more, such as accept micro-deposits; disburse micro-loans and collect payments; sell, market and service micro-insurance products; and receive and pay out authorized remittance transactions.
The central bank hoped that the new rules would encourage banks to expand -- particularly to unserved or underserved areas -- without shelling out the large sums they usually do for branches.
Ms. Tayag said the 700 MBO applications would cover around 37% or 606 out of 1,635 unbanked municipalities in the country.
“MBOs need not be attached to a microfinance bank or branch and are viable in light of their complete range of product offerings,” she added.
The establishment of MBOs, among other inroads by the government, ensures financial inclusion among the country’s poor, she also pointed out.
Still, as BSP Deputy Governor Nestor A. Espenilla, Jr., in his keynote speech during the roundtable, said, “Microfinance plays a key role in reaching out to both the unbanked and underbanked. With the sector lauded by the Economist Intelligence Unit and World Economic Forum, there is more that needs to be done.”
Financial education among poor clients so they know the types of services available from microfinance institutions and full understanding of these services are some of these, he said.
The two day conference, which ends today, aimed to provide a venue for banks to discuss the annual results of their microfinance operations as well as local and international microfinance best practices and innovations. -- Antonio Siegfrid O. Alegado
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CARLOS ANI - SEEDFINANCE Corporation - http://www.seedfinance.net
Email: carlosani@seedfinance.net
Landline: +63495010127 Cellphone: +639152919580
DEVJOBS - http://www.devjobsmail.com
PHILDEVFINANCE - http://phildevfinance.posterous.com http://phildevfinance.wordpress.com
CONSULTING - http://www.carlosani.com
My Clippings - http://www.myclipps.posterous.com
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