Microfinance and Health Protection (MAHP) Program

The Microfinance and Health Protection (MAHP) Program is a 4-year collaboration between CARD and its long time partner, Freedom From Hunger (FFH). The objectives of this collaboration are to:

• Develop a package of innovative health protection options offered by CARD in conjunction with its other microfinance services, and deliver this package to CARD members in a pilot test;
• Identify, develop and implement new management tools to support the successful incorporation of these options, including but not limited to improved management tools for Credit with Education;
• Research and document the impacts that the delivery of this package has on the performance of both CARD members and the microfinance institution itself.

The “health products” under this program are the delivery of health education modules such as the dengue module and the enrollment of members to PhilHealth under the KaSAPI program of the said agency. CARD is also studying other health delivery options in one of its pilot area – the Bondoc Peninsula area.

With the technical support from FFH, CARD will make every reasonable effort to reach at least 5,000 CARD members to avail the health protection package/s that CARD will offer. This collaboration is expected to end by December 31, 2009.

Treasury Unit

CARD aims to take CARD MRI’s treasury management to the next level by preparing and making treasury departments’ pro-active groups in contributing to the revenues that the MRI generates instead of being passive groups in merely performing support functions.

The idea of making treasury as a profit center dawned a few years ago. And as CARD tried to champion this vision, senior management and staff in the different finance departments went through different treasury training programs and workshops. CARD MRI thinks that perhaps another way of accomplishing its goal is to have a seasoned treasury specialist who will have direct involvement in the financial management of CARD MRI. Notwithstanding the different seminars and workshops that are available on treasury management, if the treasury specialist will directly train via handholding and walk-thru, the people will become more effective treasury specialists in a relatively shorter period of time. CARD believes that this might just be the way for the vision to become reality.

Last June 2006, this idea has been realized with the establishment of the Treasury Unit headed by Anna Lorraine J. Maur as one of the support units of CARD MRI. Treasury Unit is now under the technical assistance of a consultant wherein it is under a work program to establish its operation. The unit is the one who facilitates the ALM monthly meeting with the ALM Committee of CARD MRI; it handled the analysis and recommendation for the Loan Facility offered to CARD Inc. such as Deutsche Bank, CMI and Citibank; providing the Managing Director’s office monthly Consolidated Financial Statements of CARD MRI; made suggestions for the formulation of incentive for the turn-over of NGO branches to Bank; provided the Managing Director’s office analysis on Financial Statement and Operations Update of one of the partners of CARD.

As of now, Treasury unit is tasks to focus on Investment Management as what the original purpose for the establishment of the unit.