Mariel Vincent Rapisura, Author at Social Enterprise Development Partnerships, Inc.

Branch Operations

Middle managers play a crucial role in microfinance since they could be considered as the backbone of the microfinance institutions (MFIs). The middle management is the point where microfinance’s lofty mission must be translated into a sustainable and scalable operation. The middle managers are often poorly equipped to deal with this challenge. The branch operations course is designed to provide microfinance managers with a holistic understanding of the various areas involved in managing microfinance operations. Participants are expected to gain practical knowledge and skills for effective delivery of microfinance products and services. The course covers topics such as management and leadership roles, the role and dynamics of teams, conflict resolution, delinquency management, financial management, risk management and customer service. The training approach includes workshops especially designed to assist microfinance managers in handling the various operational issues that they face such as delinquency, financial performance monitoring, human resource issues, and operational risks.

Branch Audit

Microfinance institutions face a variety of risks in delivering its products and services. Written policies and procedures are put in place in order to manage these risks. Branch and area managers perform audit functions to ensure that policies are followed, financial and operating information are accurate and reliable, and risks are identified and minimized. Training on Branch Audit will outline step-by-step process, including specific activities, of Branch and Area Managers’ audit role. Participants will also be trained on how to communicate results to internal audit unit and what action points must be done post audit. Branch and Area Managers will be equipped in evaluating performance of their subordinates. Finally, performance evaluation tools for middle management will also be discussed.

Accounting for Non-Accountants

Training on Accounting for Non-Accountants ultimately aims to assist managers in identifying and analyzing problems through information generated from financial reports and eventually making management decisions based on these. The training course will include process on how financial statements are created, basic accounting principles, and financial ratios.

Financial Analysis

The financial analysis course starts with a presentation of basic financial statements and prescribed chart of accounts for microfinance institutions and the government. The heart of the course is the method for adjusting financial statements to account for subsidies, donations, inflation and adequate loan loss provisioning. Recognizing these adjustments to the financial statement reveals the true financial performance of an MFI. International, local and best practice financial standards are used to determine the quality of the financial performance. These include the PEARLS Monitoring System, COOP-PESOS, EAGLE, Microfinance Standards to all Types of Philippine MFIs, and CAMELS Rating System. Different areas for financial analysis will also be tackled, including efficiency, portfolio quality, profitability and financial structure. Finally, the course also discusses measures of effectiveness that determine an MFI’s success in achieving its social mission.

Delinquency Management

Delinquency is one of the major challenges that microfinance institutions face. The course enables participants to understand delinquency by tracing its causes and costs. To hasten appreciation of delinquency, it offers various perspectives on delinquency from the vantage point of the borrowers and the microfinance institution. Participants will also be taught on how to measure delinquency using international standards. The course prescribes report formats integrated in the MFI’s information system to track important information for decision-making. The delinquency management course emphasizes both preventive and curative strategies. Preventive delinquency management strategies include financial shields or prudent financial management practices; growth strategy; and delinquency prevention techniques in microfinance methodologies. Curative delinquency management strategies include prioritizing delinquency management measures; remedial management and litigation; crafting incentives system to reduce delinquency; establishing the delinquency task force; loan administration strategies to delinquency management; and crafting delinquency management plan. The course will also present research results on the most common delinquency problems that MFIs face, and how successful MFIs have addressed these problems.

Market-Based Financial Product Design and Development

The financial product design and development course uses market-based or demand-led approaches. The framework to be discussed outlines research methodologies using participatory rapid appraisal techniques to determine the needs of the market; assess institutional readiness for product development; and assess competitive advantage of product prototypes. The course extends the whole process of product design and development that involves assembling the product development team, design process, product costing and pricing, pilot testing, product launch and commercialization. SEDPI market research results will also be presented in the course. The research, which was conducted to several microfinance institutions all over the Philippines, shows how the Philippine microfinance industry has evolved in the last three years. Participants will also be presented with an actual case of a microfinance institution in its journey towards defining its niche and eventually succeeding in the market.

Fundamentals and Methodologies of Microfinance

The course offers more than the basics of microfinance. It introduces the concept of the microfinance triad – savings, loans and investments. The course offers a deeper understanding of the fundamentals and principles of microfinance coupled with an appreciation of various microfinance methodologies – Group/Solidarity Lending, Village Banking and Individual Lending. The course also describes the characteristics of microfinance clients and the impact of microfinance to the poor based on actual impact assessment results. Aside from the appreciation of various microfinance methodologies, the course also tackles traditional and innovative microfinance products and services – loans, savings, microinsurance and remittances. The course ends with a discussion on challenges, issues, trends and future opportunities in the microfinance industry.

Microfinance Training Courses

Clarice Crisostomo

Clarice finished her undergraduate degree in Sociology at the University of the Philippines Diliman, emerging as one of the honor students in her batch. Having finished her course in October, she then became a Research Assistant to her thesis adviser and then shifted her employment path from academe into corporate setting when she worked for more than a year at TV5, the third largest broadcasting network in the country.

Her research skills may have helped her in dealing with respondents and clients for the organization. This is her first work in the development sector, and she is more than thrilled to execute her abilities as these were indebted to the classical sociologists and were then synthesized with the influence of her adviser whose works are centered to filipinizing the discipline.

Ann Carl Bailey

Ann Carl Bailey graduated Cum Laude with a degree in Business Management Honors from the Ateneo de Naga University. Prior to joining SEDPI, she first worked as a business process associate for an insurance company. She later realized that her interests lie in development sector so she got involved with the eSkwela Project, a UNESCO Awardee for Non-Formal Education whose focus is on information & communications technology integration for the education of out-of-school youth all over the Philippines. She also handled Financial Education and Skills Training for street children in Metro Manila under Childhope Asia Philippines and served as a Senior Development Associate for Ayala Foundation’s Technology Business Incubator for budding technopreneurs.

Carl also had her share of volunteer work at the Sarvodaya Sharmadana Societies’ orphanage in Moratuwa, Sri Lanka back in 2010. Furthermore, she was amongst the 15 people from around the world who was granted a 3-month fellowship in New York. This fellowship was under the Teaching Project of the Dekeyser & Friends Foundation in partnership with Green Chimneys which aims to restore possibilities and creating futures for children with emotional, behavioral, social and learning challenges through educational, therapeutic and outreach activities with the integration of animal Assisted Therapy.

Currently, Carl is taking her Masters Degree in Industrial Relations at the University of the Philippines – Diliman. At SEDPI, she is involved in the planning, organizing, monitoring, and evaluation of development interventions, such as capacity building programs and technical assistance, introduced to partner social enterprises and other development organizations. She hopes that by taking part in organizations that work for a cause, she too can make a difference to one person at a time.