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Rural Bankers Association of the Philippines (RBAP)

About the Project
Project Name: 
Developing a distribution network for cost-efficient mainstreaming of microinsurance access
Type of Facility Project: 
Innovation Grant
Country of Operation: 
Philippines
Region: 
Asia and the Pacific
Project Thematic Focus: 
Insitutional models and business processes
Product: 
Life
Type of Risk Carrier: 
regulated insurance company
Type of Distribution Channel: 
Credit union, cooperative or other member-based financial institution
Project Description: 

To remain competitive in a rapidly expanding market, rural banks are now recognizing the value of offering microinsurance products beyond credit life insurance to further penetrate the low-income market. However, banks need capacity-building services that will ensure compliance with relevant banking and insurance regulations.

Recent changes to banking regulations now directly allow rural banks to offer microinsurance services, in partnership with private insurers. This opened a distribution channel that can effectively reach and serve over 5 million low-income clients and their 20 million dependents. Over 2 years, the RBAP through its technical arm RBRDFI, will capitalize on its existing capacity for training and development and will assist about 100 rural banks comprising 1,000 or more branches to become microinsurance agents and to launch products. Banks will be licensed and provided necessary capacity-building assistance to meet new requirements as microinsurance agents.

  • microinsurance agent licensing guidelines & protocols for rural banks
  • implementation of online and SMS-based consumer feedback mechanisms
  • 1,000,000 or more low-income clients and 3,000,000 of their dependents protected by microinsurance
  • insurance literacy training targeting low-income households

Beneficiaries: 

The rural bank sector serves an estimated 900,000 micro-borrowers and manages 5.3 million micro-deposit accounts. Low-income households are targeted by RBAP to reach an underserved market that requires affordable, easily understood and relevant insurance products and services.

Lessons from the Project
Learning Agenda: 

The Project will attempt to answer the following key questions:

  • What are the enabling factors to develop procedures for efficient licensing and accreditation of institutional microinsurance agents?
  • What is the ideal role of the RBAP in serving as the facilitator among regulators, member banks and participating insurance companies?
  • What is the role of the RBAP in promoting the growth of the microinsurance sector beyond the life of the project?
  • What are salient capacities of rural bank microinsurance agents that facilitate access to quality microinsurance products and services by low-income households?
  • What are the most effective strategies and approaches to train the microinsurance sales force of rural banks?
  • What are the most effective training strategies and approaches to promote insurance literacy among low-income clients of rural banks?
Emerging Lessons: 
  • When capacity building does not target deciders but implementers, its outcome depends on how well the two communicate. 
  • When communicating and training about microinsurance, the degree of detail needs to be appropriate to the target audience, and similar to end-client communication; simplicity and clarity are key. 
  • A lot of behaviour change is required before rural banks will champion microinsurance beyond mandatory credit life. To achieve this, a smart approach that makes them more comfortable with new products and their corresponding procedural requirements should be complemented by increasing demand from clients. 
  • Agents themselves have to buy the insurance. 
  • When giving training on complex matters in evolving environments, focus works better than scale. 
Learning Journey: 
Learn more about the lessons that RBAP is learning in this project.
About the Organization
Relationship with the Facility: 
Innovation grantee
Country of Head Office: 
Philippines
Region : 
Asia and the Pacific
Type of institution : 
Financial services industry (other than insurance)
Participation in Microinsurance: 
Distribution channel
Organizational Overview: 

The Rural Bankers Association of the Philippines (RBAP) was founded in 1955 and has since grown into a network of over 600 rural bank members nationwide. The Microenterprise Access to Banking Services (MABS) Program was launched in 1997 through which RBAP has assisted over 100 rural banks with more than 1,000 branches and other bank offices to develop microfinance products and services. Among these financial services are microloans, micro-deposits, remittances, mobile phone banking services and microinsurance. The Rural Bankers Development Foundation, Inc. (RBRDFI), the Association's technical support and training arm, is leading the Association's new microinsurance initiative.

More about the Organization
Websites: 
Microenterprise Access to Banking Services (MABS)
Quotes: