We would like to share with you the report The 2012 Microfinance Client Mapping: The state of market saturation and inclusion in the Philippines.
The report is a product of the National Microfinance Client Mapping Initiative, which aims to achieve the following:
1) To establish the baseline data of client outreach in the villages/Barangays through maps that would locate the spatial distribution of clients nationwide.
2) To locate villages/barangays with oversaturated, saturated, under-saturated and are un-served by MFI respondents.
3) To give light on the depth of client outreach by comparing the levels of client saturation with the country’s most recent rate of poverty incidence.
4) To provide indication for MFIs and Investors, alike, in deciphering where to go further and who else to serve while addressing the challenges of financial inclusion and social responsibility.
With 112 participating MFIs, the client mapping survey—which was conducted from March to September 2012—covered slightly more than half of the almost 42,000 barangays in the country (921,188 barangays), with a consolidated outreach of 1.3 million clients. Of these barangays, about 14 percent (or 3,000 barangays) appeared to be over saturated, while 49% (or more than 10,000 barangays) tend to be saturated. On the other hand, about 22 percent, appeared to be under-saturated.
We hope that the findings, observations, and insights in the report will guide stakeholders not only in knowing where else to go and who else to serve but also in knowing where to restrain expansion that may incidentally lead to client multi-borrowings (i.e., minimizing market saturation). It is also hoped that the baseline information can be used for other and future studies.