BPI eyes two-year shift toward AI-driven lending

MANILA, Philippines — The Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) is ramping up its use of artificial intelligence, with plans to launch the first phase of an AI-powered lending platform by December, its top executive said.

BPI president and CEO Jose Teodoro Limcaoco said the project aims to embed AI into the bank’s lending processes, using agentic AI to help handle loan approvals and streamline workflows.

“We’re beginning a project where we are going to put our whole lending platform on AI, and hopefully use agentic AI to service some of the loan approvals and loan processes. It may be a two-year project,” Limcaoco said. “But we will do it in phases and we hope to get the first phase up by maybe this December.”

The Ayala-led bank is eyeing the technology to speed up processing and make credit access more efficient for clients, as lenders face growing pressure to digitize operations and enhance customer experience.

Limcaoco said BPI has been using AI for many years, even before the current wave of generative AI and large language models gained traction. Machine learning and pattern recognition have long been applied in customer service and credit modeling.

However, the latest wave of generative AI and large language models is opening new opportunities for the 174-year-old bank.

“We do have a tool today that’s being used by the team where we are working off a ChatGPT platform. This is where we ingested all our policies, procedures and products,” Limcaoco said.

“That way, our team is able to query our huge database of internal memos, if you will, and get a consistent answer that we give to clients,” he added.

Beyond back-end support, BPI is also piloting what Limcaoco described as an “AI-driven voice box,” which could further enhance the bank’s service delivery.

The broader push underscores BPI’s commitment to digital transformation as the banking industry contends with fast-moving technological change. Traditional players like BPI are adapting to keep pace with fintech firms and evolving customer expectations.

For BPI, Limcaoco said the strategy is to integrate AI step by step, ensuring reliability and trust as it reshapes internal processes and client-facing platforms.

The Ayala-led bank posted a net income of P33 billion in the first six months of 2025, 7.8 percent higher than the P30.6 billion in the same period last year, driven by double-digit revenue growth despite higher operating costs and loan loss provisions.