About Kabalikat Para Sa Maunlad Na Buhay, Inc.(KMBI)

Kabalikat Para Sa Maunlad Na Buhay, Inc. or better known as KMBI, is a microfinance non-government organization. It focuses on helping underprivileged Filipino women micro-entrepreneurs access loans, insurance, and capital build-up. It now serves more than 160,000 women nationwide.

BUx-KMBI Partnership in 2022 and beyond

In 2022, BUx strengthened its newly established partnership with Kabalikat Para Sa Maunlad Na Buhay, Inc.(KMBI) with a string of roadshows across Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. 

The BUx team with KMBI partnered for a Luzon leg of roadshows in San Jose Del Monte City, Bulacan, Solano, Nueva Vizcaya, and Cauayan Isabela by a Mindanao leg starting from Tacurong City, Sultan Kudarat, and ending in Davao City. Lastly, the team closed the year out with KMBI partners from different parts of Cebu with its Visayas leg of the roadshow.

The Challenge: Time, distance, and fear

As recently featured, many Filipino women micro-entrepreneurs were challenged to pay back their loans, not due to the income of their business but the struggle to pay their loans due to distance from their local branches or partnered banks. With some partners living in far-to-reach areas across the country, it has been a hassle for them to travel and pay their dues. 

In discussions with some Filipino women micro-entrepreneurs during the roadshows, many voiced the struggles of the time and costs needed to travel just to pay their loans. One woman said she would travel two hours just to deposit to the closest partner bank, not accounting for long lines and the time coming back to their home and business. It would take as much as a whole day just to complete a required weekly task. 

Others also voiced the safety precautions for crossing certain towns in their province as it has a history of being stricken by rido-clan wars. Some live in rampant snatching and stealing areas, making traveling with a certain amount of money an uncomfortable weekly practice.

Award-winning with BUx

KMBI was recently recognized as one of the four awardees of the Digital Champions – MFI Category during the 1st Digital Financial Inclusion Awards (DFIA), a financial inclusion initiative funded by Citi Foundation in partnership with the Microfinance Council of the Philippines. Using BUx, KMBI digitized and automated its collection system in collaboration to help lower transaction costs and streamline the payment process for Program Members. Through BUx, they can reap the positive impact of digitalization on KMBI’s staff and operations. 

BUx’s Featured solution: Ease for partners and employees.

Using BUx’s payment link generation, Filipino women micro-entrepreneurs can now pay their weekly dues in the comfort of their homes. This removes the need to spend time and effort on  more traditional practices, such as going to a partner bank or branch office and paying dues. Through BUx’s payment options, they can now pay via e-wallet using Gcash or GrabPay. They can now pay their loans through their partner of choice, with over 60,000 over-the-counter branches such as 7-Eleven, Cebuana Lhuillier, Palawan Pawnshop, and more.

It has also been much easier for KMBI branch employees as well. With BUx’s real-time dashboard, accounting and program officers can easily keep track of payments and reconcile weekly paid dues faster than before. Also, BUx’s batch invoicing feature allows each KMBI branch to generate multiple payment links in seconds for their partners quickly. This feature creates a more effortless flow to handle incoming payments than manual practices.