CARD MRI to expand Cebu ops

The financial subsidiaries of CARD Mutually Reinforcing Institutions (MRI) are set to expand its presence in Cebu.

CARD MBA corporate communications officer Raffy Antes said Rizal Bank Inc. and CARD SME Bank will open additional branches in the northern and southern part of Cebu Province soon.

On Sept. 18, Rizal Bank is slated to open a branch in the town of Argao, the second in the province after opening in Carcar City last January.

In addition, a CARD SME bank could open another branch in Talisay City by next year. Currently, the bank operates in Lapu-Lapu City with microbanking offices in Cordova and Mandaue City.

Antes said both Rizal Bank and CARD SME Bank are intended to cater to CARD clients, who graduated from its microfinance NGO, where members can obtain a loan from P1,000 up to P5,000. Overtime, as their financial standing improve and loan requirements increase, they transition to become clients of CARD-owned banks including Rizal Bank, CARD SME Bank, and CARD Bank.

“Our goal here is to achieve zero poverty,” said Antes, saying more poor Filipinos become financially ready to enter the formal banking sector. Currently, CARD’s microfinance NGO, largely composed of poor women, has more than 86,000 members. The plan is to help them enter the formal banking sector later on.

“The average rate of CARD, Inc. ( CARD NGO) clients that transitioned to (Rizal Bank or CARD SME Bank) in Cebu is 85 percent,” added Antes.

As of July this year, CARD MRI has 120,000 clients in Cebu, and 4.5 million nationwide. CARD MRI has insured 433,532 in Cebu and 13.8 million nationwide under its microinsurance program.

By 2020, the company intends to have eight million clients nationwide and a microinsurance reach of 40 million individuals.

In July, state-run Small Business Corp. has awarded CARD Bank and CARD SME Bank as part of its outstanding development partners in helping micro, small, and medium enterprises to start, grow, and expand their business.

The company has also signed a memorandum of understanding with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) last Aug. 18 as one of the conduits for the government’s Pundo Para sa Pagbabago at Pag-aseso program (P3).

However, Antes said CARD MRI has used its own funds for the program, but realigned its guidelines including low-interest loans to members that will use the funds for business. To date, the company has disbursed P77 million in P3 loans to 5,800 MSME borrowers.