Bank plans to continue pursuing digital initiatives

THE Philippine Savings Bank (Psbank) announced plans to further its digital initiatives this year after recording upticks in online transactions. “We will continue to pursue our digital transformation roadmap by delivering on what is relevant and simple for the customer,”psbank President Jose Vicente L. Alde said in a recent disclosure.

Last year, the thrift banking arm of the Metrobank Group noted that digital enrolments and utilization soared by 56 percent and 143 percent, respectively. Psbank, in a bid to promote digital payment adoption, also waived fees for interbank transfers via Instapay and PESONET.

Booking of time deposits via mobile and national standard compliant QR (quick response) code use for fund transfers were made available by the bank for its clients by mid-2020.

“For the safety and convenience of loan customers, settlement of Psbank loans via Instapay was also made available in the last quarter of the year,” the bank added.

“We strengthened our digital platforms and made them reliable as the demand for digital banking services exponentially rose,” Alde said.

The listed bank saw its net income plunge by 63.43 percent to P1.108 billion last year from P3.03 billion in 2019 as it took a conservative stance on credit provisioning.

Loan loss buffer was increased by more than three times to P6.4 billion last year.

Operating income before provisions increased by 31 percent to P7.45 billion while gross revenues climbed by 13 percent to P16.57 billion for the period.

Net interest income grew by 21 percent to P13.75 billion last year, thanks to robust growth in low cost current and savings account (CASA) depotis and the decline in interest of term deposits. For the period, CASA deposits improved by 16 percent to P67.25 billion from P58.18 billion year-on-year.

As of end-december 2020, total assets stood at P219.41 billion; as of end-2019, this stood at P224.91 billion.