RBAP eyes tie-up with Citibank, Deutsche Bank

The Rural Bankers Association of the Philippines (RBAP) is holding exploratory talks with major international banking institutions in a bid to raise funds for growth and development of the industry, including microfinance and housing fund sources.

Likewise, the rural banking system aspires to grow by nearly 77-percent growth its loan portfolio from P56 billion last year to P99 billion this year. Total assets are also set to grow by over a 100 percent from P90 billion in 2003 to P183 billion by end 2004.

RBAP officials revealed that positive gains in sourcing funds for microfinance and the housing sector could lead to better serving to countryside development leading to improved economic growth for the country.

The commercial banking system is one source but high interest lending rates remains a major disincentive. However, foreign funding that may offer better repayment rates could result in competitive lending rates for microentrepreneurs and countryside borrowers.

"It is still in the exploratory stage but there has been positive response," RBAP immediate past president Daniel R. Arcenas said, citing Citibank and Deutsche Bank as among the said institutions.

Multilateral lending agencies is also in the RBAP wish list as the former placed importance to direct lending or offering grants in support of the development of the microfinance and small and medium enterprise sectors.

Meanwhile, the asset and loan growth targets for the year are within sight as the seeds for growth were already sown in the previous years.

Arcenas explained that the RBAP laid out programs for the development of the rural banking system to meet the challenges of economic growth and its increased participation.

"We want to be the ideal partners for countryside development, and the challenge to reinvigorate the system has been accepted," RBAP officials said.

For the past few years, the RBAP has remodeled itself to be catalysts of growth for the system by retooling the organization as a full-service body and increasing industry advocacy.

Internally, it reinvigorated its membership base including confederations, federations and individual RBs. The RBAP staff and its foundations and affiliates have become professionals and not just a social club.

It now operates its own website not only for real-time information including posting of relevant government regulations, banking and finance news, and industry and membership activities, and reporting of bad assets for regulators and prospective buyers. In the near future, it would have transactional capabilities like remittances or money transfers for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).

It launched wide-ranging training programs to make the RBs stronger, profitable, cost-efficient and relevant to the local and national economies.

Newly-inaugurated RBAP president Senen Glorioso said that RBs should be business, service and information centers including payment centers for members of the Social Security System (SSS), the Government Security and Insurance System (GSIS), the Home Mortgage Fund (Pag-Ibig), the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), the National Statistics and Census Office (NCSO), and PhilHealth. – Ted Torres