benjamin e diokno : virtual launch of the credit risk database ( crd ) project speech by mr benjamin e diokno, governor of bangko sentral ng pilipinas ( bsp, the central bank of the philippines ), at the virtual launch of the credit risk database ( crd ) project, 9 december 2020. * * * ms. kawabuchi kiyo, senior representative of jica, officers of the crd project participating banks, ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon! i am pleased to have this virtual launch today. as you may know, msmes are the backbone of our economy. they account for 99. 5 percent of business enterprises in the country and are responsible for two - thirds of its total employment. but, the lack of access to credit remains a major barrier to the further development and sustainability of msmes. as of end - december 2019 or prior to the onset of the covid - 19 pandemic, msme loans of the philippine banking system only account for 8. 8 percent of total business loans and 6. 1 percent of total loans. this is mainly attributed to two factors. first, msmes are often reluctant to approach banks due to lack of credit history and acceptable collateral typically required for loan application. second, banks tend to perceive msmes in general as high - risk due to limited understanding and visibility into this market. as they navigate through the pandemic, msmes have been heavily devastated. during the lockdowns implemented to curb the spread of covid - 19, most msmes closed totally and some operated on a highly limited basis. the harsh reality is that the pandemic added to the existing challenges encountered by msmes and therefore undermine progress towards inclusive economic growth. clearly, both the government and private sector should support to msmes to help them withstand this crisis and eventually recover and thrive beyond this pandemic. as such, it is timely that the bangko sentral ng pilipinas ( bsp ) and the japan international cooperation agency ( jica ) have embarked on a project to establish a credit risk database ( crd ) for small and medium enterprises ( smes ). as a brief background, the feasibility study on the establishment of a crd here in the philippines was conducted in 2016 by jica and the department of finance. the study showed encouraging results and the project became a joint initiative of the bsp and jica under a technical cooperation program between the philippines and japan from 2019

rafael buenaventura : raising the bar on consumer banking service speech by mr rafael buenaventura, governor of bangko sentral ng pilipinas ( central bank of the philippines ), at the bank marketing association of the philippines ’ ( bmap ) 30th anniversary of upgrading bank - marketing practice, makati city, 26 august 2004. * * * introduction distinguished officers and members of the bank marketing association of the philippines ( bmap ), follow bankers, ladies and gentlemen : good evening. i am deeply honored to take part in this celebration, marking bmap ’ s 30th year of upgrading bankmarketing practice in the country. this year ’ s theme of “ customer service in the marketing mix of financial products ” rightly emphasizes the importance of banks ’ clients in influencing an institution ’ s success. consumer banking over the last couple of years, the philippine banking system has experienced strong growth in consumer banking services. credit card receivables for example, grew by an average 25. 2 percent annually from 2000 to 2003. this has allowed more ordinary people without access to credit to now have access and on clean basis. however, this growth has also come with a price in the form of increased volume of bad accounts. many of the problems were traceable to the fact that some new cardholders did not really understand the obligations and responsibilities that came with them. as a result, past due credit card accounts rose an average 40. 4 percent, a pace much faster than the new ones granted. the number of credit card - related complaints also rose dramatically. it is in this regard that we should work hand in hand in channeling more efforts towards customer education and protection. for its part, the bangko sentral ng pilipinas ( bsp ) issued various regulations geared towards protecting both the industry and the public. for instance, in 2002 we issued circular no. 349 which significantly tightened rules on credit card and other lending operations by requiring banks and their subsidiary credit card companies to ascertain that cardholders are capable of fulfilling their commitments and by setting credit limits based on their net take home pay. moreover, the bsp took a more proactive stand by creating the consumer education committee in january of this year to help improve basic financial literacy. i commend bmap together with the credit card association of the philippines ( ccap ), the bankers association of the philippines ( bap ), the chamber of thrift banks ( ctb ) and the