Strategic Management in Microfinance: The Philippine Experience

Two decades ago, the Center for Agriculture and Rural Development (CARD) Inc. was founded as a social development organization by a group of rural development practitioners in the Philippines. Its vision was to establish a bank created for, owned and managed by, landless rural women.

Today, CARD has evolved into one of the largest development institutions in the country. Now known as the CARD Mutually Reinforcing Institutions (CARD MRI), the CARD network is composed of five (5) different institutions: CARD Bank (the rural bank), CARD Inc. (the microfinance institution), CARD Mutual Benefit Association (the microinsurance organization), CARD MRI Development Institute (the training institute) and CARD Business Development Service Center (the provider of business development services). Each of these institutions provides complementary financial and non-financial services to poor people.

Indeed, CARD MRI has come a long way. From its initial capital of PhP 20 (US$ 0.40) in 1986, its collective assets crossed the PhP 3 billion (US$ 66 million) mark in 2007. It provided microinsurance to some 2.3 million Filipinos, majority of them coming from poor and low income families. The network also provided microfinance services to more than half a million micro-entrepreneurs in the country through its 488 branches spread as far as Sulu and Tawi Tawi in the South and Ilocos Norte in the North. Its loan portfolio has reached PhP1.9 billion (US$42.2 million), with repayment rate kept at 99.37%, contributing to an enviable financial self-sufficiency level of 109%. It was also able to mobilize savings amounting to PhP 909 million (US$ 20.2 million), illustrating the bankability of the economically marginalized sectors.

CARD MRI was awarded the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Public Service in 2008. The Microfinance Information eXchange (MIX) Market, the world’s comprehensive public database on microfinance institutions (MFIs), has also recognized CARD NGO as the 32nd among the top 100 microfinance institutions in the world. With strategic partnerships forged with institutions from Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Laos, Singapore and Hongkong, CARD MRI has turned into a global leader in the microfinance industry.

CARD MRI has managed both its financial and social performance well. It prides itself on being innovative, and credits its success to the institution’s client responsiveness. Organizational dynamism - its willingness to adopt strategic management processes - towards promoting its clients’ best interest has propelled CARD MRI to where it is today.