RCBC to open 20-25 new branches this year

MANILA, Philippines - Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) plans to open 20 to 25 new branches this year, and another 25 in 2016 to fully utilize the recently-approved 50 new branch licenses in the former restricted areas.

RCBC filed its application with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) last year, and received approvals in December.

Banks expanding in the former restricted areas — mainly in Metro Manila — spend about P20 million per branch license.

Based on first semester 2014 data, the bank’s distribution network stood at 443 branches with an ATM network of 1,177. This is a 2.66 branch-to-ATM ratio.

RCBC president and chief executive officer Lorenzo V. Tan said the combined cost of the 50 branch licenses is equivalent to resources needed to acquire a medium-sized bank.

“That is equivalent to buying a medium-sized bank, minus the non-performing loans (NPLs) and other nuances,” he said.

The bank, however, remains open for any acquisitions, though with a prejudice to organic growth.

Tan said that with the recent entry of Cathay Life Insurance Co. as RCBC stakeholder, the bank has sufficient capital to fuel growth for the next three years.

“These are capital for organic growth, or even for acquisition,” he added.

Meanwhile, the bank is also working on establishing a paperless system in its branches.

RCBC wants to roll out so-called paperless branches or centers of electronic equipment such as automated teller machines (ATMs) and computers to allow bank clients to make uninterrupted bank transactions without human intervention and receipt issuance.

Electronic banking or eBanking seeks to eliminate human intervention while reducing operating costs. It allows bank clients to transact banking activities without physically visiting branches.

This includes ATMs, credit and debit cards, phone banking, internet banking and mobile banking.