CARD Pioneer Microinsurance Inc. (CPMI) is not only a leader in nonlife microinsurance, it is, in fact, the very first microinsurance company in the Philippines.
It is a joint venture insurance company established by Center for Agriculture and Rural Development, Mutually Reinforcing Institutions (CARD MRI) and Pioneer Insurance and Surety Corp. in 2013. CPMI’s objective is to develop and market relevant and affordable nonlife microinsurance products. CPMI is CARD MRI’s 12th subsidiary institution. The founder of CARD MRI is Jaime Aristotle B. Alip, Ph D. It has gone a long way since Alip, together with 15 rural development practitioners, organized the Center for Agriculture and Rural Development Inc. in San Pablo City, Laguna, in December 1986 as a social development fund to address the continuing poverty in Regions 4 and 5. In 1989 a group-lending pilot was launched by CARD, based on the Grameen Bank’s methodology. A year later, CARD launched its credit arm, the Landless People’s Development Fund (LPDF). In 1997 it became the first non-government organization to transform into a licensed rural bank. CARD Bank, officially established in September 1997, is headquartered in San Pablo City, Philippines. CARD Bank provides credit and savings for rural clients. As of July 31, 2009, the bank was serving 338,796 active borrowers, and reported a total portfolio of approximately $25,643, and total assets of $34,189,940.
CPMI was formerly known as Pioneer Asia Insurance Corp. (PAIC), which was incorporated and registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on August 16, 1963. On September 10, 2013, the SEC approved the amendment of PAIC’s corporate name to CARD Pioneer Microinsurance Inc. It is the country’s first nonlife company specifically created to address the calamity, agriculture and income-loss insurance needs of the marginalized market at the microinsurance level.
CPMI is 47.85-percent owned by Pioneer Insurance and Surety Corp. (PISC), 47 percent by CARD Mutual Benefit Association Inc. (MBA), 2 percent by Card MRI Insurance Agency Inc. (CaMIA), 1.51 percent by Pioneer Intercontinental Insurance Corp. (PIIC), 1.42 percent by Pioneer Life Inc. and 0.22 percent by Pioneer Life Holdings Inc. (PLHI). The registered office address of the CPMI is Pioneer House, 108 Paseo de Roxas, Legazpi Village, Makati City.
Before the creation of CPMI, CARD MRI was a client of Pioneer Life Inc.’s microinsurance line. However, it did not take long for this to eventually blossom into a partnership between these two companies, who are pioneers in their own respective fields.
CARD MRI, on the other hand, is the Philippines’s largest micro-finance institution. Among the subsidiaries of CARD MRI is CARD MBA, which also holds a direct interest in CPMI. CARD MBA was registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as a nonstock, not-for-profit association on October 29, 1999. It was granted a license by the Insurance Commission (IC) on May 22, 2001, to engage as a mutual benefit association that extends benefits and services for the welfare and financial security of its members and their families in the form of death benefits, medical subsidy, pension and loan redemption assistance and ensuring continued access to benefits and resources. On July 16, 2013, CARD MBA entered into a purchase agreement with CPMI for the purchase of 2,303,428 shares, or 47 percent of CPMI. On September 30, 2013, the consideration paid by CARD MBA for its investment in CPMI amounted to P257.98 million.
CPMI focuses on the community-based social development undertakings for improving the quality of life of the economically and socially challenged families and women in the country.
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Atty. Dennis B. Funa is the current insurance commissioner. Funa was appointed by President Duterte as the new insurance commissioner in December 2016. E-mail: dennisfuna@yahoo.com.