Microfinance clients' savings total P8.9B
October 27, 2013
In fact, Tetangco reported that the more than one million microfinance
borrowers have combined savings of P8.9 billion as of the end of the
first half of 2013, higher than end-March's P8.2 billion.
Speaking at the 3rd Annual International Banking Conference, the BSP
chief since there are now 186 banks offering microfinance services and
products, microfinance loans have grown 3x from 2002 to 2013 at P8 billion.
Filipinos' access to microcredit, said Tetangco, is the first step to
gaining financial independence. "The socio-economic impact of developing
an inclusive banking system cannot be overemphasized," he told foreign
bankers attending a banking event held in Makati recently. In 2009,
microfinance clients' savings were only P1.78 billion.
But, the BSP still face the challenge of financial inclusion especially
since only 20 percent of Philippine households have bank accounts out of
a population of 100 million.
"The critical issue to determine then is how inclusive our banking
system has become," said Tetangco. "Our ultimate goal is for banks to
cover even the underbanked, the unbanked, and those that have been
mis-labeled as 'unbankable'," he added.
As the BSP craft regulations and policies that would expand the
industry's network through branch banking, ATMs, ebanking, and
innovations in marketing and service delivery, Tetangco said the eye is
always on developing an inclusive financial system and consumer protection.
"(We're) taking consumer protection a notch higher," he said.
The BSP's Monetary Board, its policy-making arm, is currently reviewing
a consumer protection framework that outlines the modes of behavior and
practices that should be adhered to by BSP-supervised institutions.
The latest BSP microfinance-related consumer protection policy was
Circular No. 782 which expanded the scope of qualified microinsurance
clients and increased their risk protection.
The central bank's Consumer Finance Survey (2009 report) indicated that
eight out of 10 Filipino households do not have a deposit account with
93 percent of them citing that they do not have enough money to open
bank deposits as their primary reason, said the BSP. The microfinance
banking helped improve the numbers and from only P2.6 billion loan
accounts in 2002, it has expanded to P8 billion by the first quarter
this year.
The BSP has been continuously introducing new products for the
microentrepreneurs and has changed policy and regulatory framework to
encourage banks to deliver financial products and services that are
accessible to all Filipinos. These include policies on microfinance,
microdeposits and microinsurance.
