Netherlands Queen Máxima Zorreguieta Cerruti, in her role as the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development (UNSGSA), is in the Philippines up to May 23 to promote financial inclusion among the poor, women, small farmers and small businesses, or those that are descibed as “traditionally underserved groups.”

The queen, on her first day in the country, visited the poor communities on Talim Island, a remote area under the municipalities of Binangonan and Cardona in Rizal, and had a meeting with the island’s fishermen and their families.

At a media briefing after the trip, she discussed her observations about the improvements that made financial services more accessible to the fisherfolk and other ordinary residents of Talim island.

She particularly noted what the fishermen shared about the CARD MRI Rizal Bank, Inc. (CARD RBI), a microfinance rural bank that has been providing financial services to them, including credit, payments system, savings, and insurance. CARD RBI also introduced to the fisherfolk the use of the mobile application konek2CARD which enables them to transact with the bank even by just using their cellphone.

“We had a wonderful visit. The fishermen were explaining to me how important credit has been for them because it actually allowed them to grow and invest even more and expand on their income,” the queen said.

“But very importantly, they were telling me about five types of insurance that they actually have. One of them is hospitalization insurance. One of the biggest worries for Filipinos is medical expenses. So this was a very big leap for a lot of people,” she added.

She elaborated, “They were telling me, of course, what a big difference it is that they live on an island, and now you can access financial service from your phone. Otherwise, you have to pay $3 to go back and forth, and the three hours to make a payment. Now, you can do it from your home.”

She also talked with a ‘sari-sari store’ owner and discussed about the fintech company GrowSari which has been providing the sari-sari store with loans and delivery service for the products that the store sells.

Queen Maxima noted that according to the World Bank Global Findex Database, the Philippines is among the 10 countries with the highest number of adults without access to financial services, and that approximately 37.6 million Filipinos have no access to such services.

Both in her UN role and in the Netherlands, she advocates that financial health should be a guiding principle in developing policy and financial products that are attuned to people’s needs, especially loan insurance policies and simple savings products that enable people to protect themselves against financial setbacks and invest in their future.

The queen is set to discuss her advocacy in her meeting with President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr., Department of Finance (DOF) Secretary Ralph Recto, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Eli Remolona, Jr., National Economy and Development Authority (NEDA) Secretary Arsenio Balisacan and Asian Development Bank (ADB) President Masatsugu Asakawa, among others.

She will also have roundtable discussions with Philippine financial institutions and fintech companies, as well as with officials of the Ateneo de Manila University which is spearheading a program for financial inclusion among ordinary Filipinos.

Queen Máxima is accompanied on her Philippine trip by representatives from the World Bank and international groups promoting poor communities’ financial inclusion such as the Alliance for Financial Inclusion, the Better than Cash Alliance, and the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP).

📷 Royal House of the Netherlands website