The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is the lead organization within the U.S. government that provides assistance to developing countries to help with their economic and social development. To date, USAID has programs in over 100 countries worldwide – in Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and the Near East, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Europe and Eurasia. The Agency works closely with recipient country governments, bi-lateral and multilateral donors, other U.S. government agencies, and a host of implementing partners in the public and private sectors, including civil society, business, and academia.

www.philippines.usaid.gov

The Rural Bankers Association of the Philippines aims to support the ability of its members to offer quality banking services to all their constituencies, comply with regulatory requirements, and to promote the welfare of the communities in which they operate.




www.rbap.org

The Mindanao Economic Development Council or MEDCo was created to promote and coordinate the active participation of all sectors to effect the socio-economic development of Mindanao through a wholistic and integrated approach.





www.medco.gov.ph

This website is an online resource of mobile phone banking services and a directory of accredited rural bank outlets and merchants accepting mobile cash payments.

From the website, rural banks and merchants applying for accreditation to offer mobile phone banking and mobile commerce services can download the forms required for accreditation and access instructions and guidelines. Step-by-step instructions and requirements are also available to users of the new mobile phone banking services. The website lists bank branches and merchants that are offering mobile phone banking services and accepting mobile payments, allowing users to easily locate bank branches and merchants nearest their localities.

www.mobilephonebanking.rbap.org

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is the central bank of the Republic of the Philippines. The BSP’s primary objective is to maintain price stability conducive to a balanced and sustainable economic growth. The BSP also aims to promote and preserve monetary stability and the convertibility of the national currency. The BSP provides policy directions in the areas of money, banking and credit. It supervises operations of banks and exercises regulatory powers over non-bank financial institutions with quasi-banking functions.

The BSP identified microfinance as its flagship program for poverty alleviation in 2000, and has since made substantial progress in promoting microfinance in the banking sector. It has put in place an enabling policy and regulatory environment for practitioners, training and capacity building within the BSP and the banking sector, as well as in promoting and advocating microfinance. These efforts have resulted in a progressive increase in the number of sustainable financial institutions providing microfinance services.

www.bsp.gov.ph

The Microfinance Information eXchange (MIX) aims to promote information exchange in the microfinance industry. The MIX mission is to help build the microfinance market infrastructure by offering data sourcing, benchmarking and monitoring tools, as well as specialized information services.

The MIX carries its activities through two main products: the MIX Market (MIX MARKET), a global professional web-based information service, and the MicroBanking Bulletin (MBB), an MFI benchmarking publication formerly published by the MicroBanking Standards Project, which has become the premier source of industry benchmarks. Twenty-three MABS participating banks are participating in the MIX Market.


www.themix.org

The MIX MARKET ™ is the global, web-based, microfinance information platform of the Microfinance Information eXchange (MIX). It provides information to sector actors and the public at large on microfinance institutions (MFIs) worldwide, public and private funds that invest in microfinance, MFI networks, raters/external evaluators, advisory firms, and governmental and regulatory agencies. The MIX MARKET seeks to develop a transparent information market to link MFIs worldwide with Investors and Donors and promote greater investment and information flows. The MIX MARKET currently provides data on 990 MFIs, 93 investors and 164 partners. Twenty-three MABS participating banks are participating in the MIX MARKET.

www.mixmarket.org

Chemonics International is a global consulting firm promoting economic growth and higher living standards in developing countries. With offices on five continents and over 2,000 employees, Chemonics International is one of the world's largest firms focusing exclusively on international development.




www.chemonics.com