The microfinance industry in Mindanao has undergone dramatic changes in the last decade and these changes have put forward extraordinary challenges. These challenges include escalating competition among microfinance practitioners, an unprecedented demand for quality and value on the part of the clients and growing pressure from government regulation. It is safe to conclude that the microfinance industry will face an even more demanding business environment in the future – the kind that is engendered by changes in the political and economic environment of the Philippines.
The microfinance practitioners in Mindanao had all of these in mind when they agreed to meet and discuss about the need to collaborate and form an organization that would serve their common interests, deal with the challenges of a burgeoning sector as well as support the individual needs of its members in order to deliver quality services to micro and small enterprises and to be effective in reducing poverty in the region.
The idea of forming a MFI association was first introduced during a meeting of the Caraga Rural Bankers’ Federation (CARBAF) in Butuan City. The meeting was participated in by rural banks engaged in microfinance in the CARAGA region. The group agreed that there is a need to collaborate and create a network organization that will represent the microfinance sector of Mindanao (to including the small microfinance players or those with over 500 microfinance clients) in national policy formulation, conduct capability building activities, promote industry's best practices, coordinate activities and promote cooperation and collaboration among MFIs, other MFI networks, and with government and private donor/funding agencies. Thus, Mindanao MFIs worked on creating Mindanao Microfinance Council (MMC) to promote the growth of the microfinance industry in Mindanao, support the common interest of Mindanao MFIs and bring greater impact in the efforts to alleviate the poor in Mindanao and in the Philippines.
On November 21, 2003, representatives from 32 Mindanao MFIs gathered in Davao City to forge the common vision and mission for the microfinance industry in Mindanao and to plan for the activities that will lead to the formation of the Mindanao Microfinance Council.
MMC was formally registered with the Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission on March 25, 2004 and its first officers were elected and sworn in on March 30, 2004 during the 2004 Mindanao Microfinance Summit in Davao City.
Today MMC is among the active microfinance associations in the Phiippines and is playing a significant role in the development of the East Asia Growth Area (EAGA).