MFTransparency and the Microfinance Council of the Philippines to Launch the Transparent Pricing Initiative in the Philippines

LANCASTER, PA USA & MANILA, PHILIPPINES March 21, 2011– On Thursday March 24, 2011 MFTransparency, the Microfinance Council of the Philippines (MCPI) and the Rural Bankers Association of the Philippines (RBAP) will co-host a workshop in Manila (Luzon) to launch the Transparent Pricing Initiative in the Philippines. Additional workshops will take place on Tuesday March 22^nd in Davao City (Mindanao) and Monday March 28^th in Iloilo City (Visayas).

In this workshop series, Chuck Waterfield, CEO & President, and Alexandra Fiorillo, Vice President, of MFTransparency, will provide training on pricing transparency to a range of local industry stakeholders including microfinance institutions, regulators, funders and industry support organizations. The event in Manila will mark the launch of the Transparent Pricing Initiative in the Philippines, sponsored by Luxembourg Cooperation, during which MFTransparency will undertake a number of activities aimed at facilitating transparent pricing in the Philippine microfinance industry.

The schedule for the launch workshop series of the Transparent Pricing Initiative in the Philippines, co-hosted by MFTransparency, Microfinance Council of the Philippines (MCPI), the Rural Bankers Association of the Philippines (RBAP), in association with APPEND and the Mindanao Microfinance Council (MMC), is as follows:

Following these workshops, MFTransparency will begin collecting product-specific pricing data from institutions throughout the country. We will then publish this data along with descriptive and contextual information to illustrate the dynamics of microfinance pricing in the Filipino market. MFTransparency will also develop educational and training materials tailored to several specific audiences including consumers of microfinance products and MFI management and staff. MFTransparency will offer training and education to regulators of the Philippine microfinance market to support their development of policies that foster a healthy microfinance market in which free competition is possible, institutions can be financially sustainable and consumers are protected and educated.

MFTransparency’s implementing partner in the Transparent Pricing Initiative in the Philippines, the Microfinance Council of the Philippines (MCPI), has been a driving force for the development of client-focused, socially-oriented microfinance in the Philippines since its establishment in 1996. MCPI helps to facilitate ethical financial inclusion, focusing on developing mechanisms for disseminating information and reaching a consensus around best practices for social and financial performance among its members.

MFTransparency is a global initiative for responsible and transparent pricing in the microfinance industry. In each country included in its Global Transparent Pricing Initiative, MFTransparency facilitates transparent pricing practices through pricing disclosure, education and training and policy advisory. Through this methodology, MFTransparency seeks to further sustainable microfinance and expand access to microloans for the poor.

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About MFTransparency

MicroFinance Transparency is an international non-governmental organization founded in 2008 with the purpose of facilitating transparent markets through pricing disclosure, education and policy advisory. MFTransparency represents an industry movement toward transparent practices and responsibility. Based in the United States, the group has organized transparent pricing efforts in India, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Azerbaijan, Bosnia, Kenya, Malawi, Uganda, Rwanda, South Africa, Ghana, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Togo, Benin, Mali, Niger, Bolivia, Ecuador, Argentina, Colombia and Peru. For more information please visit www.mftransparency.org.  Grameen Bank’s Dr. Muhammad Yunus and Elizabeth Littlefield, former CEO of CGAP, as well as more than 700 industry professionals and organizations have committed to transparent pricing by endorsing MFTransparency and its initiative. For information on MFTransparency staff, please see Who We Are.

About Luxembourg Cooperation
For more than 15 years, Luxembourg Development Cooperation has been interested in the evolution of microfinance and inclusive financial systems. The organization recognizes the benefits in fighting poverty, provided that the instruments used are appropriate to the cultural contexts and applied with the necessary management rigor.

Luxembourg Development Cooperation not only comprises support to microfinance activities in the field but also an accompaniment of the inclusive financial sector promotion, including an engaged advocacy in Luxembourg and international forums.

A program to promote regional inclusive financial sectors in the WAEMU zone (Lux-Development AFR/017 Project) in partnership with the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO) is currently operational in the zone. Its main objective is to consolidate the sector and control risks related to the promotion of microfinance activities in the WAEMU region.

For questions relating to this press release
please contact:

Jordan Filko
MFTransparency
+1.973.868.8375
[email protected]

The Transparent Pricing Initiative in the Philippines is sponsored by Luxembourg Cooperation and MicroNed:

also in partnership with APPEND and the Mindanao Microfinance Council (MMC)