Top 7 thrift banks continue to dominate

MANILA, Philippines - Seven banks have continued to dominate the country’s thrift bank system in all major aspects in 2015, but the lower four thrift banks have managed to reduce the gap.

BPI Family Savings Bank, the Philippine Savings Bank (PSBank) and RCBC Savings Bank (RSB) defended their top three spots, but the next four have recorded huge leaps based on the five-year compounded average growth rate (CAGR).

The next four dominant thrift banks are the Philippine Business Bank (PBB), China Bank Savings (CBS), City Savings Bank and PNB Savings Bank.

In terms of assets, the seven account for more than half (roughly P492 billion) of the total industry assets worth in the vicinity of P726 billion end-2015.

On a year-on-year growth rate, PSBank topped with a 16.4 percent improvement to P168.18 billion, but CBS registered an 89.66 percent CAGR (2011 to 2015).

PSBank is part of Metrobank Group’s GT Capital, while CBS is a subsidiary of China Banking Corp. which in turn is part of the SM Group.

Assets ballooned from P5.9 billion in 2011 to P77.1 billion last year, due mainly to the integration of acquired Planters Development Bank.

BPI Family tops in that category last year with assets worth P266.37 billion. It is a subsidiary of the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI).

In terms of capital buildup year-on-year, CitySavings shown a 43.51-percent swell to P8.5 billion but PNB Savings grew by 83.6 percent on a five-year CAGR to P11.2 billion.

CitySavings is the thrift bank of the Union Bank of the Philippines, which is a member of the Aboitiz Group. PNB Savings is a subsidiary of the Philippine National Bank, which in turn is part of the Lucio Tan conglomerate.

Again, BPI Family tops in the capital category with P25.8 billion end-2015.

But PSBank leads in the number of branches with 255 followed by CBS with 166. RSB manages 160, BPI Family with 143 and PBB with 134.

In fact, the seven banks account for nearly half of the total number of branches run by the thrift banks.

Estimated number of branches operated by the seven are said to number nearly a thousand against the 1,920 total branches of the system end-2015.

CBS tops the thrift banks in the loan department over the five-year period ballooning 115.67 percent, or from P2.28 billion in 2011 to P49.5 billion last year.

But year-on-year, PNB Savings registered a 112.8-percent growth rate to P18.7 billion at the end of 2015.

BPI Family again was the leader in that category with P199.8 billion, expanding by 22.16 percent, as well as the deposit category reaching P235.11 billion at the end of 2015.

But in terms of year-on-year basis, CitySavings grew by 46.41 percent to P43.9 billion. In a five-year span, CBS topped the list with a 100.34 percent CAGR starting 2011 to P71.4 billion.

The seven thrift banks are members of conglomerates with commercial banks as their immediate mother unit.

No stand-alone thrift bank has come close to challenging the seven players since the start of the 21st century.