BPI eyes growing loan books on easing rates

THE end of the tightening cycle is within sight and this has boosted the Bank of the Philippines Islands’ (BPI) hopes of growing its loan books this year and a better performance of the country’s economy.

BPI President and CEO Jose Teodoro K. Limcaoco said through a statement that signs that rates are coming down are giving consumers the confidence to borrow.

In 2023, BPI’S credit card book grew 38 percent and its auto loan book, 24 percent. Their total loan book grew 10.5 percent, faster than their expectation of 8 percent.

“People are talking about higher inf lation in the second quarter, primarily because of base effects. But our forecast, internally, is that you’ll see a little bump in the second quarter, but that will again come down in the third quarter, which should give room for the BSP [Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas] to cut rates,” Limcaoco said through a statement the lender issued last Wednesday. “(Consumers are) comforted by the fact that, for the most part, the rise in interest rates has stopped and people are looking forward to falling interest rates by the second half of the year, so that bodes well for the economy.”

As the economy grows, the bank said its serious plan to move its customer base to mobile apps, as part of its ambitious goal of “significantly” growing its customer targets “by making a big push.”

Limcauco said the bank current has about 11 million customers and over six million have registered in the BPI mobile app. He said about 4.5 million are using the application actively.

“We plan to increase from 11 million to something quite significant, significantly higher than that by the end of this year,” Limcauco said.

One way to achieve this, Limcauco said, is through the bank’s business unit launched last year, Agency Banking. This allows BPI to not be solely dependent on its own branches and digital platforms to grow its business.

Limcauco said BPI products and services, through Agency banking, can be accessed from different partner merchants such as Robinsons retail store, Ayala mall, etc.

Customers can also get assistance to open an account or onboard any of our services with the people there. Limcauco said they have over 5,000 doors that we call partners.