PBB to focus on service improvement to SMEs

MANILA, Philippines -  Having recently recognized its 20th anniversary of catering to the Philippine economy, the Philippine Business Bank (PBB) intends to continue improving their services to their SME (small and medium enterprises) clients while developing their branch network expansion to further reach those in the provinces with limited access to financial institutions.

PBB president and chief executive officer Roland Avante said they are currently looking into 14 immediate locations to expand the bank’s network of over 150 branches nationwide. For the past few years, PBB has established various branches in Southern Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. Among the rural banks boasting considerable deposit and client bases that it has acquired in the past include Insular Savers Bank, Bataan Savings and Loan Inc., and Cavite-based Rural Bank of Kawit Inc.

In the first quarter of 2017, PBB saw a 30 percent growth to its loan portfolio to around P56 billion, increasing from 42 billion year-on-year.

“The increase was mostly due to the reorganization of our lending units which were completed towards the middle of the third quarter of 2016. It was beneficial streamlining establishing the three units: Commerical Banking, Corporate Banking and Consumer Banking, to ultimately make services customer-centric,” said Dave Sison, PBB VP and head of corporate planning.

Avante said the loan portfolio of the bank is mostly made up of SMEs and some corporate deals and that through a strategic repositioning of its asset mix, the bank was able to capitalize on the movements in the global treasury market, expanding its lending business to serve the financing needs of its clients.

To continue this growth, PBB has already moved towards upgrading their e-banking facilities as they have noted steadily increasing clamor and a growing directional shift towards online financial services.

“We’ve started evaluating several technological initiatives such as internet banking facilities and easier accessibility to secure e-banking services,” said Avante, adding that they also want to try to strengthen cash management services such as offering payroll facilities.

Apart from this, PBB is considering adopting microfinance services to promote more financial inclusion in their branches nationwide.

“We hope to bridge the gap and lower borrowing costs with microfinance. However, the only challenge to microfinance is the high-risk of adopting its process and policy,” he said.