Unbanked and financially underserved women and men in low-income and rural areas in the country can access digital financial services platform to increase their income.

Christine Violago, Country Manager of Grameen Foundation Philippines, said the foundation has designed Community Agent Network (CAN) Program which aims to improve the resilience of the financially unserved and underserved communities by building an agent network that delivers financial services through an electronic transactions systems in a “secure, convenient and cost-effective way”.

Combining a mostly female agent network with a digital financial services platform that connects people with banks, utility companies, government agencies and other businesses, the CAN program has enabled millions of low-income people in the Philippines to benefit from formal financial services.

Violago said total transaction volume has reached 4.3 million valued at P1.3 billion (US$25 million).

She likewise underscored the FarmerLink program developed by the foundation, which combines the power of mobile technology and human networks to improve productivity, access to markets, and financial services.

Violago said farmers are coached on how to fully adopt practices, while farm management plans produced and harvest levels are monitored.

She cited as an example salt fertilizer application where farmers have increased adoption from 1.9 percent to 6.9 percent from baseline to endline.

Violago further said farmers also receive early warning system alerts via SMS and avail of financial services.