AREAS OF OPERATIONS
ARDCI NGO GROUP operates mainly in the Bicol Region, Philippines, with branches now covering parts of Quezon Province
CATANDUANES
Albay
Camarines Sur
Camarines Norte
Sorsogon
Quezon
PRODUCTS
MICRO-INSURANCE
5 Branches
VisionBank
6 Branches
7 Branches
3 Branches
3 Branches
3 Branches
ARDCI LINE |
Life Insurance
Accident Insurance
Hospital Income Benefit
Credit Group Life Insurance (CGLI)
Exit Age One-Time Endowment Fund
Calamity Assistance
..............................................................................................................
| Other Links |
..............................................................................................................
CDO explains GGCT while HR supervise
Roots in CatAg
Agricultural and Rural Development for Catanduanes, Inc. (now ARDCI NGO GROUP INC.) was an offshoot of a medium scale development project for Catanduanes known as the Catanduanes Agricultural Support Programme (CatAg), conceptualized by the province's Department of Agriculture (DA) and funded by the European Commission (EC) and the Philippine Government.
ARDCI HISTORY
Official Website of ARDCI NGO GROUP INCORPORATED 2011. All rights reserved
Developed and Maintained by ARDCI MIS TEAM
CatAg shifts strategies
However, an EC Support Mission in September of 1995 resulted in a shift to a micro-business (MB) approach, with MBs financed through Savings and Loan Systems (SLSs) largely based on the Grameen methodology in Bangadesh instituted and made famous by Dr. Muhammad Yunus. The recommended shift to the MB and SLS approach was formally approved through Rider No. 1 to the Financing Memorandum signed on 01 March 1997.
Membership in CatAg under this new system sowly began to develop and increase, with the group guaranteeing concept becoming the core of the program's later initiatives.
After two years of successfully generating membership under a micro-lending system that was slowly showing incredible sustainability, the EC and DA, through CatAg, decided to establish a members-based grassroots organization that would eventually be entrusted to continue the micro-lending program after the government sponsored CatAg phases out.
From CatAg to ARDCI
Thus was born the Agricultural and Rural Development for Catanduanes, Inc. or ARDCI. Its registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission in 1998 saw the project's historic transformation from a government aided development program into a people's organization under a Board of Trustees elected from among qualified chairpersons of the established SLSs in different barangays across the isand province.
Initially under the guidance of the EC and DA, ARDCI continued, with much success, the micro-lending program of CatAg in Catanduanes and instituted other products such as an informal group insurance system that culled contributions from members under certain conditions. This program later developed as a formal insurance system for members, which was run through a partnership with a private insurance provider.
The next step after this successful transition was the transformation of established ARDCI branches (there were initially four branches serving different areas around Catanduanes) into rural finance institutions (RFI) that would essentially bring ARDCI within the realm of mainstream banking and finance as a micro-finance oriented rural bank.
ARDCI gives birth to VisionBank-A Rural Bank
On October 8, 2002, in a landmark undertaking, ARDCI founded VisionBank, Inc.-A Rural Bank, formally converting its Virac-Báto Branch as was envisioned. VisionBank has since been recognized as the first microfinance-oriented bank in the Philippines after the General Banking Act of 2000.
ARDCI's (and CatAg's) success in Catanduanes in terms of steady and consistent high repayment rates and increasing membership was capped with retained earnings reaching more than P20-Million just after three years of operations.
This outstanding, unexpected even, accomplishment was to have its logical outcome: expansion of operations outside Catanduanes. Thus, almost simultaneous with the creation of VisionBank, ARDCI embarked on a strategy aimed at reaching out to more beneficiaries in the Bicol Region.
ARDCI leaves home
In December 2002, ARDCI, in a groundbreaking move, opened its Tabaco Branch in Mainland Bicol. It was groundbreaking in the sense that it completely reversed the usual trend where development initiatives would usually come into the province from the mainland (and other centers). Many of such initiatives were not even able to gain a foothold in the island before they withered away, funding and strategies and all. But ARDCI held on, steadfastly breaking new grounds, weathering storms inside and out, figuratively and literally.
From its Tabaco branch, it eventually was able to establish more branches in Mainland Bicol, covering Albay, Sorsogon, and Camarines Sur. It has recently added branches in Camarines Norte and Quezon Province while continuing to study other potential areas.
CatAg, which officially ran for nine years, started operating in Catanduanes in 1995. Its design, however, evolved since the initial Financing Memorandum between the EC and PHL was signed on 22 June 1993. CatAg's original methodology adopted a micro-project (MP) approach in increasing its target beneficiaries' income. The MPs were designed to assist community-based groups in their small, usually agriculture-based enterprises, through funding, infrastructure development and capability building programs.
European Union