THE Philippine Savings Bank, a member of the Metrobank Group, will be opening two more branches in Mindanao in the next quarter.
Gary B. Manalac, assistant vice president for Mindanao, said the bank has been aggressively looking for more sites where to set up branches, noting that the island region has been performing well.
”We are looking for development areas to set up branches,” Manalac said in an interview, saying that the criteria includes the fact that it is progressive and the deposit levels of the residents are high based on records of the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp.
Another point of consideration, he said, is that the area hosts only a few banks. “The Mindanao market for banks is still very big,” he said, noting that there are still several areas that have few banks. “We want to set up five more branches in Mindanao this year,” he added. The bank already has 14 branches out of its 187 branches nationwide.
The bank will open two more branches this year in Matina, its fourth branch in the city, and in Guiwan, Zamboanga City.
Opening more branches in key areas, he added, will allow the bank to offer some unique products that other banks cannot offer.
For one, the bank has a card which functions like a credit card, but allows the holder to limit his or her expenses.
Launched last year, the card, which is affiliated with the international credit card brand Mastercard, allows the holder to use it for transactions limited only to credit cards like buying of airline tickets. However, since the card has to be “loaded,” the holder will not go beyond what he or she has, unlike a credit card when the borrowing limit is specified by the credit card company.
“This is a good product, especially for people who travel a lot but do not want to carry cash and they do not have credit cards. They just load the card and either withdraw the load from ATM (automated teller machines) or use this card for buying products or services,” he said.
Aside from being useful to those who do not have credit cards, it is also good for parents who want to teach their children to budget. “For example, you may give your child his allowance for a week. The child needs to budget his allowance properly because the parent will not give the children more than what they need,” Manalac explained.
Also, the bank wants to push its product that allows the borrower to earn an interest out of the money he or she pays in advance on a monthly loan due.
“We hope to bring these products to the countryside, not only to increase our revenues but also to provide better services to our clients,” he added.
Although its report did not specify its revenues in Mindanao last year, Manalac said the revenue growth in the island region was “significant.”
Last year, the bank registered a net income of P1.8 billion, or P568 million higher than the income it registered the previous year.
