Staff and clients of CARD Mutually Reinforcing Institutions (CARD MRI) in Mindanao simultaneously packed relief goods for at least five percent of their total number of clients, two days before the recent landfall of tropical storm “Vinta.”
“To strategically provide easy and fast assistance for our clients, all our unit offices that are safe, near, and within the areas where the tropical storm is expected to cross, packed relief goods that are enough to cover the number of clients they are serving,” said Marilyn Manila, CARD MRI’s Disaster Management Chair.
The number of relief goods prepared covered all its clients who were affected by Vinta, Manila added.
CARD MRI staff was also on the ground preparing for the validation of claims for life and non-life insurance.
All microfinance clients of CARD MRI are automatically enrolled in CARD Mutual Benefit Association (CARD MBA), the microinsurance arm of CARD MRI, and are entitled to life insurance benefits.
Clients may also avail various non-life products, such as re-housing and hospitalization loans, among others, with low premium cost to other microinsurance companies of CARD MRI, the CARD MRI Insurance Agency (CaMIA) and CARD Pioneer Microinsurance, Inc. (CPMI).
The immediate validation activity is part of CARD MBA’s 8-to-24-hour claims payment strategy for its policy holders right after any incident that would cost their lives and properties.
“CARD MRI also has an education program called Credit with Education (CwE). A new module on disaster management had been rolled out this year to all our centers. CwE modules are being facilitated by our Account Officers during center meetings of our clients,” Manila said.
Center meeting is one CARD MRI strategy to gather its clients weekly and discuss various topics that would benefit their families and respective businesses, she added.
At least 10 minutes per center meeting is allotted for CwE discussions. “The topic on disaster management is taught for eight sessions or at least two months,” Manila added.