THE Asian Development Bank (ADB) will extend a $4-million loan to the Center for Agriculture and Rural Development Inc. (CARD) to expand CARD’s lending to low-income women.

“Nonbank microfinancing is a viable formal lending alternative for underserved groups like women. Boosting CARD’s capacity will improve the livelihoods of low-income earners and help them withstand future crises by broadening their access to affordable finance,” Christine Engstrom, ADB Private Sector Financial Institutions division director, said.

She said that the lockdowns caused by the Covid-19 pandemic badly affected the livelihood of women micro-business owners.

“Lockdowns during the pandemic significantly reduced the income of women-owned microborrowers, forcing them to take more expensive loans from informal channels,” Engstrom added.

CARD is a microfinance nongovernment organization with a presence in most of the country’s provinces. As of December 2020, CARD had about 1.3 million micro-borrowers, 85 percent of which are women, and a P8.8billion loan portfolio (around $160 million).

Owners of small community stores, food vendors, resellers of clothing apparel, and backyard farmers and growers borrow from CARD, which provides low interest rates and does not charge a service fee.

To reach rural areas, the company has developed systems to digitize loan applications and enable remote financial transactions through digital wallet providers.