Business World
Finance
Posted on 08:56 PM, December 28, 2010
THE NUMBER of active microfinance clients in the Philippines increased between 2006 and 2008 following the implementation of a project by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), a report released yesterday by the multilateral lending agency showed.
THE ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK released a report yesterday indicating that the number of microfinance clients in the Philippines increased between 2006 to 2008. Microfinance is considered one of the tools that help combat poverty.
THE ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK released a report yesterday indicating that the number of microfinance clients in the Philippines increased between 2006 to 2008. Microfinance is considered one of the tools that help combat poverty.
The ADB reported that microfinance clients increased by 129.17% to 5.5 million in December 2008, from 2.4 million in December 2006.
ADB said its $150-million Microfinance Development Program (MDP), approved on Nov. 22, 2005, helped create a “sound and market-oriented microfinance sector development path” for the Philippines.
The project had the goal of helping the Philippine government in addressing weaknesses in the microfinance sector and help poor Filipinos access quality financial services.“The objective of the MDP was to improve household incomes, reduce poverty and reduce the vulnerability of the poor,” ADB said in the report.
Microfinance is the provision of financial services to low-income clients who traditionally lack access to typical banking and related services.
Microfinance is also the idea that low-income individuals are capable of lifting themselves out of poverty if given access to financial services.
The National Credit Council, under the Finance department, served as the borrower and executing agency for the loan.
Aside from increasing the number of Filipinos who access microfinance services, the bank said MDP also helped in creating a total of 2.6 million jobs during the period of its implementation, along with the increase in the amount of microfinance and in the number of loan releases.
The ADB report added that performance standards of microfinance institutions in terms of portfolio quality, efficiency, sustainability outreach ratings and continued monitoring were also achieved, along with easy financial transactions through electronic banking and appropriate rural saving schemes that increased the clients’ savings mobilization.
“The MDP enhanced the enabling and regulatory environment as the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas formulated rules and regulations to promote microfinance operations by banks, allowing microfinance-oriented banks to open branches anywhere in the country, and promoting electronic banking with consumer protection, particularly for savings mobilization,” ADB said.
It added that the Securities and Exchange Commission managed to comply with the program’s required policy action of compelling microfinance-oriented non-government organizations to be transparent and observe full disclosure in their operations.
Assessing the MDP overall, the multilateral financial institution said it was “successful” in achieving its objectives with its high efficiency and likely sustainability.
Finance officials were not immediately available for comment as of yesterday. -- Jo Javan A. Cerda
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Friday, November 12, 2010
Asia: Big scope for microinsurance in several countries
Asia Insurance Review Vol I Issue 184
The Philippines, Indonesia and India offer the biggest market opportunities for microinsurance because of their regulatory frameworks, strong cooperative systems and potential risks from extreme weather and disasters such as earthquakes and volcano eruptions, reports Reuters citing Mr Craig Churchill, head of the global Microinsurance Network and team leader of the International Labour Office's Microinsurance Innovation Facility.
He was speaking in conjunction with the three-day 6th International Microinsurance Conference in Manila that began on Tuesday. Around 500 participants are attending the event to discuss the solutions and challenges in microinsurance. The conference is organised by the Munich Re Foundation, Microinsurance Network, the Philippines' Department of Finance, and Georgia State University's Center for the Economic Analysis of Risk.
At present, over 140 million people, mostly in Africa and Asia, are covered by affordable insurance premiums, and studies showed the potential market is up to 3 billion, says the Munich Re Foundation and International Labour Organisation. More than half of microinsurance products are focused on life and health, while less than 10% cover farms.
"We're still at the experimental stage in offering products that could cover agriculture," said Mr Churchill, adding that there is huge potential growth for such products, citing the impact of typhoons Ketsana and Parma in the northern Philippines in late 2009.
Last month, German reinsurer Munich Re said that it would launch a reinsurance project in the Philippines to cover cooperative companies against extreme weather events. That will be the first microinsurance product in the country to offer farmers some protection against typhoons and flooding problems, to which the Philippines is prone.
Mr Joselito S Almario, a director of the Department of Finance, said that microinsurance has a potential Philippine market of nearly 35 million people willing to pay a premium of PHP20-30 (US$0.46-0.69) a week for coverage of up to PHP120,000 (US$2,771) in life and non-life benefits. At present, 14% of the Philippines' 96 million people have insurance, including 2.9 million people covered by microinsurance, mostly as members of cooperatives.
The Philippines, Indonesia and India offer the biggest market opportunities for microinsurance because of their regulatory frameworks, strong cooperative systems and potential risks from extreme weather and disasters such as earthquakes and volcano eruptions, reports Reuters citing Mr Craig Churchill, head of the global Microinsurance Network and team leader of the International Labour Office's Microinsurance Innovation Facility.
He was speaking in conjunction with the three-day 6th International Microinsurance Conference in Manila that began on Tuesday. Around 500 participants are attending the event to discuss the solutions and challenges in microinsurance. The conference is organised by the Munich Re Foundation, Microinsurance Network, the Philippines' Department of Finance, and Georgia State University's Center for the Economic Analysis of Risk.
At present, over 140 million people, mostly in Africa and Asia, are covered by affordable insurance premiums, and studies showed the potential market is up to 3 billion, says the Munich Re Foundation and International Labour Organisation. More than half of microinsurance products are focused on life and health, while less than 10% cover farms.
"We're still at the experimental stage in offering products that could cover agriculture," said Mr Churchill, adding that there is huge potential growth for such products, citing the impact of typhoons Ketsana and Parma in the northern Philippines in late 2009.
Last month, German reinsurer Munich Re said that it would launch a reinsurance project in the Philippines to cover cooperative companies against extreme weather events. That will be the first microinsurance product in the country to offer farmers some protection against typhoons and flooding problems, to which the Philippines is prone.
Mr Joselito S Almario, a director of the Department of Finance, said that microinsurance has a potential Philippine market of nearly 35 million people willing to pay a premium of PHP20-30 (US$0.46-0.69) a week for coverage of up to PHP120,000 (US$2,771) in life and non-life benefits. At present, 14% of the Philippines' 96 million people have insurance, including 2.9 million people covered by microinsurance, mostly as members of cooperatives.
Micro-insurance regulatory framework set
BusinessWorld, Finance
Posted on 02:04 PM, November 10, 2010
Breaking News ( Updated as of 01:54 PM )
A REGULATORY framework for micro-insurance companies will be implemented in January, officials said on the second day of the sixth International Micro-insurance Conference in Makati City.
"The performance standards [regulations] will take in effect by January 2011," said Vida T. Chiong, Insurance Commission deputy commissioner and officer-in-charge.
"This will serve as a guide for the commission and other stakeholders to determine the viability of a [micro-insurance] company -- if it has the capacity to settle claims in the future," she added.
Ms. Chiong said the standards will provide "regulatory space" to micro-insurers with "lower" requirements for putting up a micro-insurance compared to those stipulated in the Insurance Code.
Geraldine Desiderio-Garcia, chairman of the micro-insurance committee of the Philippine Life Insurers Association, said in a lecture at the conference the standards will "formalize existing micro-insurance practices" such as cutting by half the P100-million capital requirement -- the fund to put up a micro-insurance firm -- for commercial insurers.
The standards, currently undergoing fine-tuning by a technical working group composed of government officials and private representatives, will be transmitted next month to a micro-insurance steering committee, headed by Finance Undersecretary Gil S. Beltran,, for review.
The Insurance Commission will give final approval of standards. -- Prinz P. Magtulis
Posted on 02:04 PM, November 10, 2010
Breaking News ( Updated as of 01:54 PM )
A REGULATORY framework for micro-insurance companies will be implemented in January, officials said on the second day of the sixth International Micro-insurance Conference in Makati City.
"The performance standards [regulations] will take in effect by January 2011," said Vida T. Chiong, Insurance Commission deputy commissioner and officer-in-charge.
"This will serve as a guide for the commission and other stakeholders to determine the viability of a [micro-insurance] company -- if it has the capacity to settle claims in the future," she added.
Ms. Chiong said the standards will provide "regulatory space" to micro-insurers with "lower" requirements for putting up a micro-insurance compared to those stipulated in the Insurance Code.
Geraldine Desiderio-Garcia, chairman of the micro-insurance committee of the Philippine Life Insurers Association, said in a lecture at the conference the standards will "formalize existing micro-insurance practices" such as cutting by half the P100-million capital requirement -- the fund to put up a micro-insurance firm -- for commercial insurers.
The standards, currently undergoing fine-tuning by a technical working group composed of government officials and private representatives, will be transmitted next month to a micro-insurance steering committee, headed by Finance Undersecretary Gil S. Beltran,, for review.
The Insurance Commission will give final approval of standards. -- Prinz P. Magtulis
Insurance standards readied
Insurance standards readied
BusinessWorld
Finance
Posted on 08:38 PM, November 10, 2010
REGULATORS are preparing “performance standards” for microinsurance providers to make sure their operations are sustainable and the poor, who are their clients, are protected.
At the same time, they are planning a nationwide financial literacy campaign to increase awareness among the poor about the importance of microinsurance.
Vida T. Chiong, deputy commissioner and officer-in-charge of the Insurance Commission (IC), shared with participants of the 6th International Microinsurance Conference in Makati City yesterday that the performance standards shall serve as a “guide for the commission... to determine... the capacity [of a microinsurer] to settle claims in the future.”
The standards go by the acronym “SEGURO,” for Stability, Efficiency, Governance, Understanding of the product, Risk Management and Outreach.
Microinsurance providers -- which include commercial insurers, cooperative insurance societies and mutual benefit associations -- will be evaluated based on their solvency and level of risk-based capital, among others.
Their performance, in terms of time they take to pay out claims, number of claims they reject, growth in number of clients and growth in premiums, will also be examined.
The standards are currently being fine-tuned by a technical working group composed of the IC, National Credit Council, Securities and Exchange Commission, Philippine Life Insurance Association, Inc. and the Philippine Insurers and Reinsurers Association.
These will be transmitted next month to a steering committee, headed by Finance Undersecretary Gil S. Beltran for review.
The IC will give final approval to the standards.
The plan is to have the standards in place by January 2011 and for microinsurance providers to report to the IC how they performed against the standards by 2012.
“The Insurance Commission shall use the performance standards to identify as early as possible those entities whose financial condition is a concern and recomend appropriate remedial measures, if necessary,” a draft IC circular states.
Meanwhile, Joselito A. Almario, a director at the Finance department, said a microinsurance literacy campaign is planned to start by January.
“It will run from January to June. We will go region to region to educate stakeholders, especially the poor, about microinsurance,” he said.
Modules will be provided during the regional campaign, Mr. Almario said, with stakeholders such as regulators, insurance firms, clients, and even legislators expected to learn “what they can contribute to boost the microinsurance industry in the country.” -- Prinz P. Magtulis
BusinessWorld
Finance
Posted on 08:38 PM, November 10, 2010
REGULATORS are preparing “performance standards” for microinsurance providers to make sure their operations are sustainable and the poor, who are their clients, are protected.
At the same time, they are planning a nationwide financial literacy campaign to increase awareness among the poor about the importance of microinsurance.
Vida T. Chiong, deputy commissioner and officer-in-charge of the Insurance Commission (IC), shared with participants of the 6th International Microinsurance Conference in Makati City yesterday that the performance standards shall serve as a “guide for the commission... to determine... the capacity [of a microinsurer] to settle claims in the future.”
The standards go by the acronym “SEGURO,” for Stability, Efficiency, Governance, Understanding of the product, Risk Management and Outreach.
Microinsurance providers -- which include commercial insurers, cooperative insurance societies and mutual benefit associations -- will be evaluated based on their solvency and level of risk-based capital, among others.
Their performance, in terms of time they take to pay out claims, number of claims they reject, growth in number of clients and growth in premiums, will also be examined.
The standards are currently being fine-tuned by a technical working group composed of the IC, National Credit Council, Securities and Exchange Commission, Philippine Life Insurance Association, Inc. and the Philippine Insurers and Reinsurers Association.
These will be transmitted next month to a steering committee, headed by Finance Undersecretary Gil S. Beltran for review.
The IC will give final approval to the standards.
The plan is to have the standards in place by January 2011 and for microinsurance providers to report to the IC how they performed against the standards by 2012.
“The Insurance Commission shall use the performance standards to identify as early as possible those entities whose financial condition is a concern and recomend appropriate remedial measures, if necessary,” a draft IC circular states.
Meanwhile, Joselito A. Almario, a director at the Finance department, said a microinsurance literacy campaign is planned to start by January.
“It will run from January to June. We will go region to region to educate stakeholders, especially the poor, about microinsurance,” he said.
Modules will be provided during the regional campaign, Mr. Almario said, with stakeholders such as regulators, insurance firms, clients, and even legislators expected to learn “what they can contribute to boost the microinsurance industry in the country.” -- Prinz P. Magtulis
Microinsurance sees growth opportunities in Asia
Reuters - Wednesday, November 10
MANILA, Nov 9 - India, Indonesia and the Philippines offer the biggest
opportunities for the fledging microinsurance industry, which has a potential market of 3 billion people, industry officials said on Tuesday.
Microinsurance offers coverage for people with low incomes, including products such as life insurance, and is branching into areas such as offering farmers polices against extreme weather.
Over 140 million people, mostly in Africa and Asia, are now covered by affordable insurance premiums, and studies showed the potential market is up to 3 billion, the Munich Re Foundation and International Labour Organisation said ahead of a three-day microinsurance conference in Manila.
Craig Churchill, head of the global Microinsurance Network, said more than half of microinsurance products were focused on life and health while less than 10 percent cover farms.
"We're still at the experimental stage in offering products that could cover agriculture," he said, adding there was huge potential growth for such products, citing impacts of typhoons Ketsana and Parma in the northern Philippines in late 2009.
Those typhoons, and Typhoon Megi in October, caused deaths, flooding, landslides, and damage to crops and infrastructure.
Last month, German reinsurer Munich Re said it would launch a reinsurance project in the Philippines to cover co-operative companies against extreme weather events. [ID:nLDE69A1DM]
That will be the first microinsurance product in the country to offer farmers some protection against perennial typhoon and flooding problems. Another three groups offer non-life products.
Churchill said the Philippines, Indonesia and India offer the biggest market opportunities due to their regulatory frameworks, strong co-operative system and potential risks from extreme weather and disasters such as earthquake and volcanoes.
About 14 percent of the Philippines' 96 million people have insurance, including 2.9 million people covered by microinsurance, mostly as members of co-operatives,
Joselito Almario of the Finance Department said.
He said microinsurance had a potential Philippine market of nearly 35 million people willing to pay a premium of 20-30 pesos a week for coverage of up to 120,000 pesos in life and non-life benefits.
"It costs them just a pack of cigarettes a day," said Almario, who is also deputy executive director of the national credit council.
The government has set a maximum daily premium of 20 pesos, 5 percent of the daily minimum wage in Metro Manila, for life and health insurance products offering payouts of up to 200,000 pesos for more than a dozen insurers, including rural banks and co-operatives
MANILA, Nov 9 - India, Indonesia and the Philippines offer the biggest
opportunities for the fledging microinsurance industry, which has a potential market of 3 billion people, industry officials said on Tuesday.
Microinsurance offers coverage for people with low incomes, including products such as life insurance, and is branching into areas such as offering farmers polices against extreme weather.
Over 140 million people, mostly in Africa and Asia, are now covered by affordable insurance premiums, and studies showed the potential market is up to 3 billion, the Munich Re Foundation and International Labour Organisation said ahead of a three-day microinsurance conference in Manila.
Craig Churchill, head of the global Microinsurance Network, said more than half of microinsurance products were focused on life and health while less than 10 percent cover farms.
"We're still at the experimental stage in offering products that could cover agriculture," he said, adding there was huge potential growth for such products, citing impacts of typhoons Ketsana and Parma in the northern Philippines in late 2009.
Those typhoons, and Typhoon Megi in October, caused deaths, flooding, landslides, and damage to crops and infrastructure.
Last month, German reinsurer Munich Re
That will be the first microinsurance product in the country to offer farmers some protection against perennial typhoon and flooding problems. Another three groups offer non-life products.
Churchill said the Philippines, Indonesia and India offer the biggest market opportunities due to their regulatory frameworks, strong co-operative system and potential risks from extreme weather and disasters such as earthquake and volcanoes.
About 14 percent of the Philippines' 96 million people have insurance, including 2.9 million people covered by microinsurance, mostly as members of co-operatives,
Joselito Almario of the Finance Department said.
He said microinsurance had a potential Philippine market of nearly 35 million people willing to pay a premium of 20-30 pesos a week for coverage of up to 120,000 pesos in life and non-life benefits.
"It costs them just a pack of cigarettes a day," said Almario, who is also deputy executive director of the national credit council.
The government has set a maximum daily premium of 20 pesos, 5 percent of the daily minimum wage in Metro Manila, for life and health insurance products offering payouts of up to 200,000 pesos for more than a dozen insurers, including rural banks and co-operatives
Microinsurance conference today
Monday, 08 November 2010 00:00
Written by Gold Star Daily
SOME of the world's most prominent and ardent advocates of microinsurance are set to convene today as part of a global effort to extend risk cover for the poor and help popularize the practice of financial inclusion in the Philippines where the less financially endowed are often shut out of financial services available to everyone else.
Germany's Munich Re Foundation announced the three-day Manila conference earlier in Munich, Germany and in Luxemburg to boost awareness of the event in a country where fewer than one in seven Filipinos even know what an insurance policy is and what it can do to one's life.
The 6th International Microinsurance Conference will convene at the Hotel Intercontinental in Makati City where some 500 participants from all corners of the world will discuss issues and offer solutions to the challenges facing microinsurance at present. Finance Secretary Cesar V. Purisima was expected to attend the opening of the conference.
Purisima acknowledged the key role microinsurance will play in the lives of Filipinos in the coming years and that with the full implementation of the government's public-private partnership program or PPP. "Microinsurance will be at the forefront of the Philippine government's efforts to provide our low-income sector and the poor protection from risks, providing them the means to rebuild their lives when unfortunate and unforeseen events occur," he said.
The government previously bared plans to improve the country's low insurance penetration rate where only an estimated 13.92 percent of some 90 million Filipinos have insurance cover. Local insurers under the Philippine Insurers and Reinsurers, for example, vowed to help raise awareness about the benefits of insurance cover among Filipinos. pna
A version of this article appeared in print on Nov 9, 2010 Tuesday
Written by Gold Star Daily
SOME of the world's most prominent and ardent advocates of microinsurance are set to convene today as part of a global effort to extend risk cover for the poor and help popularize the practice of financial inclusion in the Philippines where the less financially endowed are often shut out of financial services available to everyone else.
Germany's Munich Re Foundation announced the three-day Manila conference earlier in Munich, Germany and in Luxemburg to boost awareness of the event in a country where fewer than one in seven Filipinos even know what an insurance policy is and what it can do to one's life.
The 6th International Microinsurance Conference will convene at the Hotel Intercontinental in Makati City where some 500 participants from all corners of the world will discuss issues and offer solutions to the challenges facing microinsurance at present. Finance Secretary Cesar V. Purisima was expected to attend the opening of the conference.
Purisima acknowledged the key role microinsurance will play in the lives of Filipinos in the coming years and that with the full implementation of the government's public-private partnership program or PPP. "Microinsurance will be at the forefront of the Philippine government's efforts to provide our low-income sector and the poor protection from risks, providing them the means to rebuild their lives when unfortunate and unforeseen events occur," he said.
The government previously bared plans to improve the country's low insurance penetration rate where only an estimated 13.92 percent of some 90 million Filipinos have insurance cover. Local insurers under the Philippine Insurers and Reinsurers, for example, vowed to help raise awareness about the benefits of insurance cover among Filipinos. pna
A version of this article appeared in print on Nov 9, 2010 Tuesday
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Insurance standards readied
Business World
Finance
Posted on 08:38 PM, November 10, 2010
REGULATORS are preparing “performance standards” for microinsurance providers to make sure their operations are sustainable and the poor, who are their clients, are protected.
At the same time, they are planning a nationwide financial literacy campaign to increase awareness among the poor about the importance of microinsurance.
Vida T. Chiong, deputy commissioner and officer-in-charge of the Insurance Commission (IC), shared with participants of the 6th International Microinsurance Conference in Makati City yesterday that the performance standards shall serve as a “guide for the commission... to determine... the capacity [of a microinsurer] to settle claims in the future.”
The standards go by the acronym “SEGURO,” for Stability, Efficiency, Governance, Understanding of the product, Risk Management and Outreach.
Microinsurance providers -- which include commercial insurers, cooperative insurance societies and mutual benefit associations -- will be evaluated based on their solvency and level of risk-based capital, among others.
Their performance, in terms of time they take to pay out claims, number of claims they reject, growth in number of clients and growth in premiums, will also be examined.
The standards are currently being fine-tuned by a technical working group composed of the IC, National Credit Council, Securities and Exchange Commission, Philippine Life Insurance Association, Inc. and the Philippine Insurers and Reinsurers Association.
These will be transmitted next month to a steering committee, headed by Finance Undersecretary Gil S. Beltran for review.
The IC will give final approval to the standards.
The plan is to have the standards in place by January 2011 and for microinsurance providers to report to the IC how they performed against the standards by 2012.
“The Insurance Commission shall use the performance standards to identify as early as possible those entities whose financial condition is a concern and recomend appropriate remedial measures, if necessary,” a draft IC circular states.
Meanwhile, Joselito A. Almario, a director at the Finance department, said a microinsurance literacy campaign is planned to start by January.
“It will run from January to June. We will go region to region to educate stakeholders, especially the poor, about microinsurance,” he said.
Modules will be provided during the regional campaign, Mr. Almario said, with stakeholders such as regulators, insurance firms, clients, and even legislators expected to learn “what they can contribute to boost the microinsurance industry in the country.” -- Prinz P. Magtulis
Finance
Posted on 08:38 PM, November 10, 2010
REGULATORS are preparing “performance standards” for microinsurance providers to make sure their operations are sustainable and the poor, who are their clients, are protected.
At the same time, they are planning a nationwide financial literacy campaign to increase awareness among the poor about the importance of microinsurance.
Vida T. Chiong, deputy commissioner and officer-in-charge of the Insurance Commission (IC), shared with participants of the 6th International Microinsurance Conference in Makati City yesterday that the performance standards shall serve as a “guide for the commission... to determine... the capacity [of a microinsurer] to settle claims in the future.”
The standards go by the acronym “SEGURO,” for Stability, Efficiency, Governance, Understanding of the product, Risk Management and Outreach.
Microinsurance providers -- which include commercial insurers, cooperative insurance societies and mutual benefit associations -- will be evaluated based on their solvency and level of risk-based capital, among others.
Their performance, in terms of time they take to pay out claims, number of claims they reject, growth in number of clients and growth in premiums, will also be examined.
The standards are currently being fine-tuned by a technical working group composed of the IC, National Credit Council, Securities and Exchange Commission, Philippine Life Insurance Association, Inc. and the Philippine Insurers and Reinsurers Association.
These will be transmitted next month to a steering committee, headed by Finance Undersecretary Gil S. Beltran for review.
The IC will give final approval to the standards.
The plan is to have the standards in place by January 2011 and for microinsurance providers to report to the IC how they performed against the standards by 2012.
“The Insurance Commission shall use the performance standards to identify as early as possible those entities whose financial condition is a concern and recomend appropriate remedial measures, if necessary,” a draft IC circular states.
Meanwhile, Joselito A. Almario, a director at the Finance department, said a microinsurance literacy campaign is planned to start by January.
“It will run from January to June. We will go region to region to educate stakeholders, especially the poor, about microinsurance,” he said.
Modules will be provided during the regional campaign, Mr. Almario said, with stakeholders such as regulators, insurance firms, clients, and even legislators expected to learn “what they can contribute to boost the microinsurance industry in the country.” -- Prinz P. Magtulis
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