Soliman Unfair to the president

SEEDFINANCE Program for the Poor

In marked contrast to Soliman’s promotion of mendicancy is that of the ongoing plan of Seedfinance Corp., a microfinance advocate, that is making inroads in the fight against poverty. We attended a strategy meeting in Cebu last week of Seedfinance and its partners, which include rural banks, microfinance firms, cooperatives and foreign nongovernment organizations, and we cannot but feel proud about the way they empower the poor, so unlike the dole-out mentality that Soliman fosters. Under the Seedfinance concept, they fund the programs of rural banks, co-ops and microfinance that are meant to help the poor.

Read more -> http://businessmirror.com.ph/home/opinion/2966-soliman-unfair-to-the-president

Smart partners with Seedfinance

MANILA, Philippines – Smart Communications Inc. (SMART) has collaborated with SEEDFINANCE Corp., a provider of wholesale credit to Filipino microfinance institutions (MFIs) and small enterprises, to equip island-based MFIs with mobile-based financial products and technologies that will allow them to send and receive funds using SMART mobile phones.

Dubbed as the Islands Activation Program (IAP), the initiative utilizes Smart Money as a fast and secure alternative to send and receive funds in islands or areas where there is little or no access to formal financial services, and will benefit members of close to a hundred MFIs in various parts of the Philippines.

SEEDFINANCE works with 73 cooperatives with an aggregate clientele base of 1.2 million poor and low-income people.

It signed an agreement with ENCASH to install automated teller machines (ATM) with allied cooperatives for the speedier and more secure receiving and dispensing of cash.

SEEDFINANCE chairman Carlos Ani said in a press briefing that the potential for the deployment of ATMs and starting mobile banking initiatives is immeasurable.

Read more -> http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=611701&publicationSubCategoryId=74

Encash’s advocacy

Encash, owner of a network of ATMs servicing hard-to-reach areas in the countryside, and Seedfinance, a nongovernment organization providing financial services to 61 member-cooperatives, will sign a memorandum of agreement for the country’s first-ever Hosted Core Banking System (HCBS) at the Top of the Citi, Citibank Tower, Valero Street, Makati. The HCBS will provide advanced savings deposits accounting for cooperatives and allow a platform to serve the bottom-of-the-economic-pyramid, that include financial inclusion and advanced financial services

This looming partnership between Encash and Seedfinance establishing the HCBS will enable cooperatives to offer financial services that before were enjoyed only by large-bank users. When running full steam, the HCBS will be offered to all cooperatives, countrywide.

Also, since the HCBS will be interfaced to the Encash ATM switch, which, in turn, is connected to the MegaLink switch, cooperative cardholders will eventually be able to withdraw funds from any ATM in the country. The business impact of the tie-up is expected to alter the banking landscape with a hitherto unheard-of banking innovation.

Read more -> http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/home/opinion/1008-sober-take-on-pag-ibig-row

ATM developer ENCASH eyes foreign partners for expansion

MANILA, Philippines – Independent ATM developer ENCASH is in talks with potential foreign investors for a strategic partnership as the outsourcing of automated teller machines
(ATMs) remains in huge demand, the company’s top executive said.

ENCASH specializes in outsourcing ATM services and its accompanying infrastructure, mainly targeting thrift and rural banks, cooperative banks and cooperatives.

Eric Severino, ENCASH chief executive officer said among the prospective foreign investors are Microvest (USA), Planet Finance (France), Responsibility (Switzerland), Developing World Markets, SNS and Oikocredit.

To grow faster, we need a strategic partner or partners,” he said in a press briefing yesterday.

A member of the MegaLink network, ENCASH has already deployed 256 ATMs and registered transactions worth more than P5 billion at the end of August 2010.

The outsourcing specialist is aiming to hit the 300 ATM mark by the end of 2010, and double this year’s output next year.

Recently, it signed an agreement for the initial fielding of several ATMs to cooperatives allied with SeedFinance, a specialized financing firm with principal focus on microfinance institutions (MFIs), including rural banks and cooperatives.

SeedFinance is currently working with 73 MFIs with an aggregate clientele base of 1.2 million.

Read more -> http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=610228&publicationSubCategoryId=66

Seedfinance Corporation, Philippines – Investment News

The Philippines is an archipelago of 7,107 islands. With an estimated population of about 92 million people, the Philippines is the world’s twelfth most populous country. 40% are considered poor. Poverty is concentrated in rural areas and in the sprawling urban slums. Considering the nature of employment and business in the Philippines, the presence and availability of microfinance is vital: 97% of total enterprises in the Philippines are micro-enterprises; 4.1 million families who belong to the lowest income strata are engaged in micro-enterprise activities, and many of the poorest manage at least two businesses. Even though there has been strong government support to develop the microfinance industry throughout the country, only 33% of the people concerned are reached by microfinance.

In April this year, responsAbility gave its first loan to Seedfinance Corporation. Seedfinance Corporation is an apex institution, which provides financial services to small microfinance institutions (MFIs), farmers’ organizations and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Given their size and small-scale operations, these institutions are usually unable to access financial services from commercial banks or international investors.

Funding via Seedfinance is a great opportunity for responsAbility to support small institutions that otherwise would be too risky and costly to finance directly. The small MFIs and farmers’ organizations play an important role in terms of social impact, as they can reach clients in remote rural areas, where otherwise no financial services are provided.

Located in Pasig City in the Philippines, Seedfinance not only provides financial services to small institutions, but also technical assistance and capacity-building programs that are vital to small start-up MFIs and SMEs.

By the end of 2009, Seedfinance provided funding to 71 MFIs and six SMEs located in various regions of the country – (except in the western part of Mindanao, which remains a conflict area).

Source: http://www.responsability.com/site/index.cfm?id_art=62525&vsprache=EN

Sustainability Has No Place in the Profit System

Application of sustainability principles to the profit system is a contradiction. When renewable energy, coming from the earth’s resources is used to power up economy and enterprises, the profit interests of the oil cartel will be displaced. Manufacturers produce materials and technologies that easily break down or reach their obsolete stage faster than they should to generate more demands from repeat and new generation customers. Although this practice contributes large amounts of waste that pollutes the earth, in the profit system competition, this is the only way to sustain. Sustainability is the adversary of profitability. More

The 2009 SEED FINANCE Stakeholders Conference

“MICRONOMORE, NO BORDERS!”

Mark your calendar on Nov. 26-27, 2009 in Luzon!

Consistently as in years past, this year’s conference again promises you more in learning, sharing, projecting, visioning and rising above the challenges!

More…

UP, UP, AND AWAY, SUPER-SUMAN!!!

UP, UP, AND AWAY, SUPER-SUMAN - Aling Dionesia Dela Pena, Oroquieta CityOne hardly will notice Aling Dionesia in that gathering of small and medium-scale entrepreneurs, government officials, cooperative officers, and other attendees to the Paglaum MPC – SEEDFINANCE SME MicroPlus product launch that sunny afternoon of June 19, 2009. Unassuming and soft-spoken as this lady is, who would believe she is the owner of a thriving enterprise that wows not only natives of Oroquieta in Misamis Occidental but also balikbayans and tourists from the U.S., Japan, Hongkong, and other countries. Only when she began asking questions about the SME facility being introduced by Paglaum Multi-Purpose Cooperative (where she is a member) and SEEDFINANCE will you be able to discern the business instincts underneath that homely, motherly figure. More…

Empowerment comes in all shapes and sizes

(ROWENA PARAGADOS – Don’t underestimate this lady)

<img class=“alignleft size-full wp-image-153″ src=”http://www.micronomore.com/home/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/rowena-paragados.jpg” title=”Empowerment comes in all shapes and sizes – Rowena Paragados” alt=”Empowerment comes in all shapes and sizes – Rowena Paragados”>The forum held by Lamac Multi-Purpose Cooperative (LMPC) and SEEDFINANCE Corporation especially for MSME clients that June 2009 morning was well-attended. The atmosphere was formal, and to add to the formality, a very unassuming lady with a somehow imposing size, sits at a corner waiting for her turn to share her experiences and sign the agreements for the SME loan facility being offered at that time. More…

MICRO-PLUS as Micronomore

micronomore-as-micro-plusConsistent with the development perspective of bringing micro-entrepreneurs to the next level of economic growth, a new financial product was recently piloted to 3 cooperatives, namely: Lamac Multi-Purpose Cooperative, Metro Ormoc Community Cooperative and Paglaum Multi-Purpose Cooperative.

This SME financing product, named as Micro-Plus, is designed for the partners’ microfinance graduates who have successfully increased their asset size and expanded their business reach. Borrower Risk Rating (BRR) System, used by Small Business Corporartion (SBC) and several banks, is employed in selecting clients for the MICRO-PLUS. More…

Renewable Energy: Getting Off the Grid

micronomore-getting-off-the-gridThe perspective of using cleaner, secure and sustainable sources of energy is not just immediately necessary in the face of the ever-rising prices of oil products but is our only way to live as humans and save the earth. Micro-no-more supports the NGOs, the Department of Energy and providers of solar and wind energy that are working in making solar and wind energy affordable to the people. More…

Islands Activation Program

Micro-no-more pooled-in the resources of SEEDFINANCE, SMART Communications and Partner-MFIs in launching the project: ISLANDS ACTIVATION PROGRAM. This program is designed for institutions located in remote areas where there is none if not very limited access to financial services. The solution includes provisioning SMART Money services and mobile-based applications for members of the institutions. More…

Micronomore: Microfinance and Beyond

Microfinance is not forever. Or at least it should not be. If a micro-entrepreneur remains micro forever, not only would he or she have failed, but the microfinance institution assisting would have failed even on a bigger scale. An MFI should provide a perspective for growth for the micro-entrpreneur. The micro- should grow to become [...]

Bringing entrepreneurs and their supporters together

It has been a while. The ripples of change have been continually shaping and re-shaping the socio-economic landscape yet our partnership remains stable and mutually rewarding. From the beginnings of our collaboration in CARE, then at SEAD, and now on to SEEDFINANCE, we have seen each other’s growth as we overcame challenges and forded on. More…

Micro– to Small Success Story

KWENTONG PENOY

Micro– to Small Success Story Tobias SolisEntrepreneur’s Name : Tobias Solis
Location : Santa Maria, Bulacan, Luzon
MFI Membership : United Bocaue Vendors Association Development Coop
Writer : Wilma B. Guinto (wilma@micronomore.com)

Ka Tobias Solis, a native of Trapiche, Oton, Iloilo was only 16 years old when he first set foot in Manila to find his fortune. He was able to work as an extra helper in a poultry farm in Last Pinas, the Crescent Corporation owned by Robert Philips. His earning was a meager Php3.00 a day that he spends for his daily subsistence and at the same time save whatever money left so he can send some for his parents in Iloilo. More…

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