MICROFINANCE

Deviating from the regular type of branch lending, CRBB created a Special Projects Division aim to cater the non-bankable but economically active poor through the provision of microfinance services.  Microfinance allows the marginalized poor into the mainstream of the society by providing them access to different financial services. 

Paluwagang Nayon ng CRB Bulacan (PNCB) is the bank’s largest microfinance program and has served the micro-entrepreneurial poor women of Bulacan, portions of Pampanga and Nueva Ecija, and the cities of Valenzuela and Caloocan. Utilizingthe modified Grameen Bank methodology, PNCB was launched in June 1998 and to date, has the largest client base and widest areas of coverage. The main source of funds is being provided by the People’s Credit & Finance Corporation.

Puhunang Pangkaunlaran ng Sikap Buhay (PPSB) is a replication of the PNCB program that targeted the micro-entrepreneurial women of Quezon City.  Through the tripartite agreement between CRBB and the National Livelihood Support Fund andGovernment of Quezon City, the PPSB started its operation in April 2002 and since then has continue to providelivelihood opportunities to the marginalized poor of the city.

Women’s Livelihood Support Fund (WLSF), launched in 1997,is a joint undertaking with the Provincial Government of Bulacan that provides livelihood loan assistance to individual, entrepreneurial poor womenof Bulacan.

Livelihood Credit Assistance Program (LCAP), now on its twelfth year of program implementation, is a partnership with the National Livelihood Support Fund (NLSF)that gives livelihood credit opportunities to Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries (ARBs) & Non-ARBs engaged in various agri-based projects such as backyard piggery and livestock production.

Gintong Ani/Production Loan Program is a type of credit facility that financed the pre and post harvest requirements of farmers and provides them with technical support, thus enabling the increase of agricultural production.  The program now serves farmers not just in Bulacan but already penetrated large portions of Nueva Ecija.

Microfinance for Sustainability, Outreach and Livelihood Opportunities (MicroSOLO),launched in June 2007, is created to cater the needs of micro-entrepreneurs with higher/more formal level of enterprises than the usual projects of CRBB microfinance clients.  The program also answers the credit needs of the Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) as well as those with micro-housing requirements.

Three (3) Sub-Programs:

Financial Assistance for Micro-Entrepreneurs (FAME) – caters the market that is not fully served by the bank’s microfinance programs.  Target clients are those engaged in small business undertaking (wholesale or retail trade, manufacturing, services), excluding agriculture-related activities and employing not more than 10 workers.

Financial Assistance for Overseas Filipino Workers – provides financial assistance tothe departing land and sea-based OFWs for their pre-departure expendituresand the multi-purpose loan requirements of their eligibledependents and beneficiaries.

Micro-Housing – Acknowledging that shelter is a basic human need, the program was launched to answer the high demand for housing loan.  It is a credit program to low-income households for their construction/renovation/expansion of existing home, land acquisition and basic infrastructures requirements.

1