Category: Financial Literacy

SEDPI Trains 106 OFWs on Financial Literacy

Last February, SEDPI conducted five financial literacy trainings in Switzerland and Italy. SEDPI’s President-CEO Vincent Rapisura and Chairman Edwin Salonga conducted the trainings. A total of 106 OFWs attended the training. The training was made possible through the support of Pilipinas-OFSPES in Italy and Samahang Pilipina in Switzerland.

According to the Philippine Overseas and Employment Agency and the Central Bank of the Philippines, Switzerland and Italy are among the European countries that sent the most amount of remittance to the Philippines. In relation to that, the training provided by SEDPI aims to equip the OFWs with knowledge and tools that will help them manage their earnings effectively so that they could realize their dreams. Mr. Salonga said, “During our workshop, we ask the participants to draw their dreams and aspirations. We do this to remind them of the reason why they left the Philippines in the first place and endure living in a foreign place.”  To add to that, Mr. Rapisura points out to the participants that there is stage in attaining financial freedom. He said, “Achieving financial freedom is not easy, especially for migrant workers. Gaining insight on financial literacy is a step that could take them nearer to their aspirations.”

One participant, Ms. Ginafe Sison said that she attended the training in order to have knowledge on handling her finances. She hopes that this could help her start a business once she returns to the Philippines. Most participants expressed that their intention to attend the training is to gain personal growth to help them achieve their dreams.

This project is a spin off from the previous literacy training program funded by the Catholic Organization for Relief and Disaster Aid (CORDAID). Today, SEDPI provides a counterpart of one percent of the mobilized social investment from OFWs to fund the trainings. In the future years, SEDPI hopes to continue this initiative in order to contribute to the welfare of Filipinos working abroad.

SEDPI Conducts Financial Literacy Trainings for OFWs in 10 Countries

The Social Enterprise Development Partnerships, Inc. (SEDPI) successfully completed training 1,145 Overseas Filipino Workers on financial literacy for remittance senders. The trainings were held in the Netherlands, Italy, Germany, Singapore, Hong Kong, Belgium, Denmark, Luxembourg, Austria and the United Arab Emirates.

Rhoda Amodia, 36 years old and a domestic helper in Rome, Italy expressed, “For the first time, I was able to go home to the Philippines without spending all my savings and income. Thanks to the training conducted by SEDPI.” Rhoda first attended the financial literacy training in February 2009 and has applied what she learned since. Ariel Centeno, 29, an architect working in Dubai, was able to use his savings when he got laid off due to the global financial crisis. He has found a better job in Dubai since. Corine de los Reyes, planned to work for one last year in Amsterdam before she retires in the Philippines. She cried during the financial literacy training when she found out that it would take her close to five years to attain the retirement fund she needs. Tita Coring, as she is fondly called, actively saved and invested and is right on target for her target retirement.

These are just three of the many positive stories of OFWs who attended SEDPI’s trainings on financial literacy. The training provides practical advice and true to life applications on establishing savings discipline, debt management, setting financial goals, spending and differentiating needs from wants. During the training, skilled facilitators provide animated advice on how OFWs should communicate their financial plans to their family members back home and gain commitment to the financial plan at the same time.

Vincent Rapisura, SEDPI’s President and CEO jolts OFW participants when he delivers his opening statements, “If your family members in the Philippines treat your remittance as permanent, it only means one thing. They do not want you back in the Philippines.” He then proceeds to deliver the training in an animated and entertaining fashion that both strikes the minds and shakes the core of the migrants’ emotions.

SEDPI implemented the financial literacy course in partnership with Cordaid. It also forged strategic partnerships with Stichting Habagat in the Netherlands and OFSPES in Italy to promote finance education and investments in the Philippines among Filipino migrants. SEDPI links with Philippine embassies abroad to engage them in this advocacy.

SEDPI’s financing arm, SEDPI Capital Credit, Inc. (SCCI) was able to facilitate close to eight million pesos (PhP8,000,000) worth of socially responsible investments from Overseas Filipinos. These were invested to Microfinance Institutions all over the Philippines to emphasize the developmental nature of the investments.

588 Remittance Receivers Trained all Over the Philippines

“I will start saving a portion of remittance once I receive it. I will no longer access loans from 5-6” These were Rosita Sawitan’s realizations upon attending SEDPI’s training on financial literacy for remittance receivers. Rosita is a 45 year old housewife who lives in Claveria, Misamis Oriental. Her daughter is an Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) who works as a demostic helper in Germany.

In 2010, SEDPI conducted 23 financial literacy training events all over the Philippines to remittance receivers all over the Philippines. A total of 588 remittance receivers attended the training events from Albay, Baguio, Cebu City, Davao City, Davao del Sur, La Union, Misamis Oriental, North Cotabato, Pangasinan, Zamboanga del Sur and Metro Manila.

Remittances play a vital role in the domestic economy. Total remittances from OFWs received in 2009 approximately comprise 15% of the Philippine Gross Domestic Product. It is therefore important to raise the awareness of both receivers and senders to maximize the use of remittances.

SEDPI’s training on financial literacy focus on building the knowledge and skills to manage scarce resources with tools such as budgeting, saving, borrowing, spending and financial planning. It emphasizes that remittances is a major source of household income but should be treated as inconsistent and temporary. The overall goal of the training is to break the cycle of dependency on remittances.

SEDPI Launches Online Financial Literacy Course for Migrants

One of the main challenges that Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) face is personal financial management. Most of them do not have emergency savings, insurance, over-indebted and low investment. This condition prompted the Social Enterprise Development Partnerships, Inc. (SEDPI) to develop financial literacy programs.

On September 12, 2010, SEDPI launched an online course on financial literacy for Filipino migrants. It aims to improve the financial situation of OFWs as well as their families by providing an online platform. Migrants could learn about debt management, financial goals setting, savings plan and investments through the online course at their own pace and time. There are 90 migrants currently enrolled in the online course on financial literacy in three classes.

The sessions are presented in a highly animated and interactive manner that makes learning an enjoyable experience at the same time. It also gives practical assessments to determine one’s financial condition. Assignments are given to the enrollees that they could accomplish offline. Customized assessments and advice are given to them once they submit their assignments.

The online financial literacy is an offshoot of SEDPI’s classroom trainings on financial literacy abroad. It hopes to sustain the financial literacy program through augmenting classroom trainings with the online platform. The feedback of enrollees is positive and almost all submitted their assignments on time.

Cordaid, Pilipinas-OFSPES and the Financial Literacy Support Group (FLSG) supported the launch of the online financial literacy platform. Cordaid is one of the largest NGOs in the Netherlands. Pilipinas-OFSPES is a Filipino organization that aims to assist Filipino migrants and their families in their economic empowerment through policy advocacy, studies and capacity building programs. FLSG is a group of migrants in Rome who are graduates of the Leadership and Social Entrepreneurship course of the Ateneo School of Government.

Low Usage of Mobile Money in the Philippines

Contrary to popular belief, there is low usage of mobile money in the Philippines. This is one of the main findings of SEDPI’s qualitative research conducted on August 2010. Almost all of the respondents have little or no knowledge about mobile money.

The research aims to gain better understanding of the domestic demand for payment services in the Philippines. Payment services include sending money, receiving money, paying bills, loans and making purchases through payment service providers. Bank transfers, Western Union, LBC, M Lhuillier and Cebuana Lhuillier emerged as the most popular and most trusted payment service providers based on the research.

SEDPI conducted 22 Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) all over the Philippines with a total of 234 payment service provider users. The FGDs were organized in both rural and urban areas with respondents from the D and E markets.

The FGD results revealed that bank transfers are the preferred payment service provider. It has consistently ranked at the top of the list when clients use payment service providers to send or receive money, or to pay for bills, loans, and make purchases. Most payment service providers like Western Union, M Lhuillier, Cebuana Lhuillier and LBC are used mostly for sending and receiving money transfers. These payment service providers, in general, are hardly used in paying for bills, loans, or purchases. Only a few FGD participants had experience using mobile money. Most have little or no knowledge about this. As a consequence, they expressed mistrust on mobile money. SEDPI researchers asked the difficulties mobile money users face when using mobile money. They cited lack of Cash In-Cash Out centers (CICOs) and lack of merchants accepting mobile money.

The main purpose of sending money through payment service providers is for education and household expenses. The same is true when receiving money. Other reasons for sending and receiving money include loan payments, business expenses, bills payment, and medical expenses.

The Social Weather Stations is currently using SEDPI’s qualitative research results for its quantitative research nationwide. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation through Bankable Frontiers Associates commissioned the payments study. The full research results will soon be made available to the public.

SEDPI Clinches 2 Projects and Conducts 6 Training Events in March

SEDPI was able to clinch two projects from two international organizations – Mercy Corps and Microfinance Opportunities. Mercy Corps commissioned SEDPI to conduct financial education for remittance senders training to Overseas Filipino Workers in Dubai, United Arab Emirates in cooperation with Western Union Foundation. On the other hand, Microfinance Opportunities commissioned SEDPI to conduct module pilot test of its financial education microinsurance and risk management module to microfinance clients in the Philippines.

For the month of March, SEDPI staff delivered si training events. Two of the trainings were under the Ateneo-BPI partnership. The trainings were “Microinsurance and Savings” held in Cebu City and “Delinquency Management” held in Tacloban City. SEDPI staffalso delivered two training events on “Financial Product Design and Development & Innovations in Delivery Systems” in partnership with the People’s Credit and Finance Corporation through the Ateneo de Manila University. These were held in Legaspi in the Bicol region and Butuan in the Caraga region. Two customized training were also conducted for the World Wildlife Fund and Rural Bank of Katipunan held in Cagayancillo, Palawan and Dipolog, Zamboanga del Norte respectively. A total of 116 participants from 36 organizations attended the training events.

SEDPI Holds Ten Training Events in February

The month of February was fruitful for the Social Enterprise Development Partnerships, Inc. A total of 10 training events were delivered for the month. Of the training events conducted, six are customized; one is conducted under the Ateneo-BPI  partnership; one new training is introduced in Ateneo; and two are conducted in the Netherlands.
A total of 200 participants from 40 development organizations attended the training events. The customized trainings delivered are on crafting financial projections for branch operations; managing and developing human resource for microfinance institutions; fundamentals and principles of microfinance; and character and capacity-based lending. The Ateneo-BPI partnership training on financial analysis was conducted in Baguio City. Two trainings on financial literacy for remittance senders were conducted in the Netherlands both in Filipino migrant communities and communities of other migrant nationalities. The latest offering of the Ateneo Microfinance Capacity Buiilding Program successfully introduced its new training entitled: “The New Frontier: Linking Microfinance and Remittances.”

The training events were all evaluated as excellent with trainers getting a rating of 4.80 and training topics were rated 4.67. SEDPI uses a rating scale of 1 to 5 in its evaluation system, with one as the lowest and 5 as the highest possible rating.

SEDPI Conducts Training to OFWs in Germany, Italy and Netherlands

A total of five training events on Financial Literacy for Remittance Senders were conducted in Europe from January 31 to February 8, 2009.

In partnership with Stichting-Habagat, SEDPI was able to conduct three training events in the Netherlands – The Hague, Limburg and Utrecht. In Rome, Italy, the Overseas Filipinos Society for the Promotion of Economic Security (OFSPES) and in Frankfurt, Germany, the Filipino Catholic Community (FCC) hosted the training events.

The training aims to actively engage Overseas Filipinos to acquire and commit to the discipline of personal financial management to erduce their vulnerabilities. It also aims to encourage the productive use of remittances through socially responsible investments.

A total of 79 participants attended the training. One participant said, “the trainers provided practical examples that will help us improve our financial standing and in the long run, achieve our financial goals.” Some of the participants also invested a total of PhP1.5 million (USD30,000) to SEDPI Capital Credit, Inc. The investment will be extended as a loan to Microfinance Institutions in the Philippines – a true act of leveraging remittances for development through microfinance

CORDAID Guarantee to OFW Investments

The Sustainable Investment Fund is an alternative investment option to Overseas Filipinos – workers, migrants and immigrants. Because it will be used to extend loans to microfinance institutions and social enterprises (SEs), this fund does not only give positive economic returns; it is socially responsible as well.

When Overseas Filipinos invest a minimum of PhP50,000.00 for at least six months in the Sustainable Investment Fund, they are then referred to as social investors. The greater the amount and the longer the investment term, the more social investors grow their money and help MFIs and SEs.

SCCI will execute a loan agreement and a Deed of Assignment of Receivables in favor of the social investor. Postdated check/s shall be issued to the social investor covering the principal and interest due. In the event that a social investor terminates an investment before the maturity date, the interest rate will automatically revert to 3% per annum. A 30-day notice is required to pre-terminate an investment.

Through SCCI’s partnership with Cordaid, each OFW investor may have his/her investments guaranteed by paying a fee of 1.5% of their invested amount per annum. This percentage will be deducted from the interest rate detailed in the table above. The maximum coverage is PhP250,000 worth of investments.

SEDPI Conducts 94 Training Events in 2008

In 2008, SEDPI’s delivery of trainings increased by 27% from 74 training events in 2007 to 94. The increase in training events was due to the continued patronage of the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation to conduct training to their management staff in Africa. At the same time, the Ateneo-BPI Microfinance Capacity Building Partnership as well as the People’s Credit and Finance Corporation also were main stays as partners to reach out to more microfinance stakeholders.

As a result, SEDPI was able to increase its number of development organizations reached from 502 in 2007 to 985. Rural banks overtook the number of microfinance institutions reached that was dominated by NGOs in 2007. Cumulatively, SEDPI is able to reach out to 400 rural banks, 275 NGOs, 76 cooperatives and 234 other development organizations. The number of international organizations reached likewise increased.

SEDPI still maintained its positioning of reaching out to small and medium microfinance institutions (those with less than 400 million in portfolio) which comprose 88% of the total outreach.

Coupling the increase in outreach is the improvement in the evaluation of participants of the trainings conducted. SEDPI uses a scale of 1 to 5 in its evaluation where 1 is the poorest performance and 5 as excellent performance. For 2008, rating on SEDPI trainers improved from 4.60 to 4.65 and rating on training topics improved from 4.39 to 4.59.

SEDPI continues to draw inspiration from this achievements and will strive to reach out to more microfinance stakeholders and continually improve the delivery of its services.