Green Bank notches microlending milestone

The Green Bank of Caraga has registered its 30,000th microloan client while realizing microloans amounting to a total of P1.4 billion. Green Bank is a rural bank with a huge microfinance lending portfolio, and operating in the Visayas and Mindanao.

No less than US Ambassador to the Philippines Kristie A. Kenney handed out the plaque of recognition to the bank’s 30,000th microloan client, Rosie Bilog, a food processor of cashew nuts in Cagayan de Oro City and other areas.

Green Bank is a participating bank of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)-funded Rural Bankers Association of the Philippines - Microenterprise Access to Banking Services (MABS) program.

With 32 branches spanning Mindanao and the Visayas, Green Bank has the largest branch network among the program’s participating banks.

The bank has been offering microloan products since 2000, when it joined the MABS program. It received training and technical assistance in the design, development and management of its microfinance services.

From six branches in 2000, Green Bank has expanded its operations to 32 branches, providing more than 98,000 microloans totaling more than P1.4 billion (roughly $26.9 million). Forty-one percent of the bank’s clients are microloan clients and 15 percent of its total loan portfolio is invested in microfinance.

Kenney lauded Green Bank for the success of its microfinance operations, particularly for demonstrating that microentrepreneurs are bankable clients, and that offering microfinance services can earn banks profits.