To promote services for financial inclusion and specifically for the microfinance industry, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) hosted the two-day Philippines National Microfinance Stakeholders Summit during the first week of April.

According to BSP’s Deputy Governor Nestor Espenilla Jr., the increase in micro savings and insurance products will guarantee microfinance growth. To expand and ensure the stability of microfinance products, the BSP has been working together with government institutions and the private sector to regulate new products and services. To advance this agenda, the BSP opened the summit by focusing on efforts they had taken towards financial inclusion by conducting a forum which encompassed a discussion by industry stakeholders. The forum highlighted the ability of financial inclusion to foster a developmental environment emanating from the bottom up.

In support of the summit, AFI’s Executive Director, Dr. Alfred Hannig, delivered a speech on financial inclusion from an international perspective to focus the summit on the diverse nature of the field. He outlined AFI’s philosophy and looked into the historical development of the regulator’s role in financial inclusion. Most recently, new regulatory challenges have emerged due to the introduction of technology-enabled financial services. This was presented in light of the global financial crisis as well as the Indian microfinance crisis which have resulted in the call for effective consumer protection to ensure sustainable financial access.

Expanding on this theme, Dr. Elisabeth Rhyne from the Center for Financial Inclusion at ACCION International spoke about consumer protection and the need for the application of principles to protect microfinance customers. These ideas are being put into action by the microfinance community globally through the Smart Campaign, a global initiative to promote consumer protection.

The AFI network of developing country policymakers addresses current trends and issues through member driven initiatives such as working groups, knowledge exchanges visits, and grants. One key observation is that policymakers are likely to listen to and trust their peers as they explore new and innovative ways to make significant strides in financial inclusion. BSP in particular has played an important role in stimulating this sort of peer learning within the AFI global network.

The BSP, governed by Amando Tetangco Jr., is an active AFI member. The bank has hosted many financial institutions from the developing world on knowledge exchange visits and has itself utilized the AFI knowlege exchange program to visit other AFI member institutions. The bank is further involved in the Financial Inclusion Data Working Group (FIDWG) and the Financial Integrity Working Group (FINTWG). On top of this, Deputy Governor Nestor Espenilla Jr. represents BSP on AFI’s Steering Committee and is an AFI Policy Champion.