DAVAO City-based One Network Bank is branching out to the Visayas with a merger with an Iloilo-based rural bank as the first of five branches within the year.
ONB President Alex V. Buenaventura said that even if the merger with the rural bank does not push through ONB will still pursue the plan to set up branches in areas in Iloilo which are already identified.
“It would be cheaper for the bank to set up new branches with about P7 million of capital expense for each bank than to merge considering that this would mean the Mindanao-based bank has to buy out some owners of the rural bank it will merge with,” he said.
He however admitted the advantage of merging with the local bank is that it will have “ready clientele” for ONB, currently considered as among the widest rural banks in the country.
“Another advantage of merging with a local rural bank is that we can use our five licenses to set up five more branches in Mindanao,” Buenaventura explained, pointing out that under the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas regulations, a bank can only apply for five branches at a time.
The bank has been closely watching and studying the Visayas market, particularly Central Visayas since late 2010 when it started contemplating of expanding in the area, he said.
Buenaventura said ONB plans to put up branches in Iznart in Iloilo City and the towns of Oton, Tigbauan, Miag-ao, Sta. Barbara and Oton.
Nelson L. Billena, bank branching head, bared that the bank will continue to look for growth areas where it could set up a branch, including those areas that have not had any bank at all. “Our desire is to reach out to communities that are growing which need modern banking services,” he said.
Late in January, the bank held the soft opening of a branch in Makati, the first ever outside Mindanao. The bank decided to put up a branch in the financial center of the country to serve the banking needs of its parent company, the Consunji Group.
The bank also opened its branches in Esperanza, Sultan Kudarat and Balingasag in Misamis Oriental.
The Balingasag branch was supposed to be located in Baganga, Davao Oriental which the bank had to transfer to the area after it failed to find a good location in the municipality.
Next month, the bank is also hoping to open branches in Sangali, a fishing port in Zamboanga City, and Butuan City.
The bank is looking at renovating key branches, particularly those that have smaller offices, although he did not mention how much is the bank spending for this program.
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