Page 8 - SPBD Dec 2021
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SPBD Fiji 2020 SPBD Fiji 2020
SPBD MICROFINANCE NETWORK
2000-2020: Celebrating Our Impact
SPBD is celebrating a major milestone in its Death benefits
history – 20 years of making an impact! We SPBD has three death benefit products that
have succeeded in increasing financial inclusion support the member, her family and her fellow
to tens of thousands in hard-to-reach markets centre members in the event of death. The first
and empowering women micro-entrepreneurs two – the Member and Spouse Death Benefit
to change their lives. Launched in Samoa, products – benefit the member’s family should
SPBD expanded from a one-country, one-island she or her spouse die. The advantages of the
microfinance institution and now operates payout include:
across five countries in the South Pacific. In
addition to our presence in Samoa in 2000, • Decreased financial burden of the family/
SPBD operates in Tonga, Fiji, Solomon Islands beneficiaries for bereavement costs.
and Vanuatu. SPBD is the only successful • Protection for the family from using savings or
microfinance network in the region. from borrowing to pay for funeral expenses.
The third product, the Member-Death Loan
Credit products Coverage, also protects a member and her
fellow centre members should death occur, as it
With SPBD financing, members are able to start eliminates the requirement for her family or her
and/or grow income-generating businesses as Centre to repay any outstanding loan amounts
well as improve their housing conditions and owed to SPBD.
send their children to school. These three areas
of focus – enterprise, housing and childhood
education – are transformational, not only for International remittances and domestic money
our women members but also for their families transfers
and communities.
Samoa and Tonga are two of the most heavily
From 2000-2020, SPBD provided more than remittance-dependent countries in the world.
254,000 loans totalling US$187 million to The high cost of sending money to our markets
deserving micro-entrepreneurs. During means that the remittance receiver loses out
this time, SPBD’s growth rate accelerated on important financial support. SPBD began
dramatically. While it took us 10 years to offering remittance services in Samoa for SPBD
disburse US$10 million, today SPBD disburses members as well as non-members.
US$10 million worth of loans in just 4.5 months
– therefore our impact is also accelerating. SPBD in Tonga has offices in the country’s four
main island groups and offers domestic,
inter-island money transfers to members. SPBD
Savings accounts actively looks for partnerships to bring more
affordable remittance services to all of our
SPBD strongly believes savings accounts are markets.
critical to protecting our members’ hard-earned
income and helping them to build assets. In
addition, a household with sufficient savings will Financial education and business skills training
have funds when an unforeseen event occurs.
SPBD promotes good management of household Building the financial capability and business
finances and actively encourages its members to skills of our members is not easy work, but
develop a regular savings habit. SPBD services it is critical. SPBD teaches women about the
55,000 savings accounts worth US$3.36 million. importance of tracking business and household
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