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Queen Máxima promote financial inclusion
By Nidz Godino
“We had wonderful visit…fishermen were explaining to me how important credit has been for them because it actually allowed them to grow and invest even more and expand on their income,” Queen Máxima of Netherlands, in her capacity as United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development (UNSGSA), is in Philippines for three days to promote financial inclusion, especially among “traditionally underserved groups,” like poor, women, smallholder farmers and small businesses.
On first day of her three-day trip, Queen Máxima visited Talim Island, remote island under jurisdictions of municipalities of Binangonan and Cardona in Rizal and whose residents have faced significant barriers to accessing financial services.
In bid to mitigate this problem,microfinance-oriented rural bank, CARD MRI Rizal Bank (CARD-RBI), has provided wide range of financial services, including payments, savings, credit and insurance to remote community.
CARD RBI has also introduced innovative use of mobile application konek2CARD, has been instrumental in delivering financial service to Talim Island.
During the trip, the Queen talked to members of fisherfolk community to see how services of CARD-RBI have been transformative impact in making financial services more accessible.
At media briefing after trip, she said her favorite part was learning about improvements in Talim Island that made financial services more accessible to its residents.
“But very importantly, they were telling me about five types of insurance that they actually have… hospitalization insurance… biggest worries for Filipinos is medical expenses…so this was very big leap for a lot of people,” she added.
Additionally, among biggest improvements Queen Máxima saw in Talim Island is use of mobile application konek2CARD.
“They were telling me, of course, what big difference it is that they live on island…now, you can access financial service from your phone…otherwise, you have to pay $3 to go back and forth, and three hours to make payment…now, you can do it from your home,” she said.
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