Union, City Savings to get microfinance provider FairBank

UNION Properties Inc. (UPI) and City Savings Bank, Inc. have obtained the Monetary Board’s approval to finalize the acquisition of the 11-branch First-Agro Industrial Rural Bank (FairBank).

UPI and CitySavings, both whollyowned subsidiaries of Union Bank of the Philippines, announced the board’s approval to proceed with the joint acquisition of a majority stake in FairBank, marking the financial conglomerate’s foray into rural and microfinance banking.

“We are thrilled about this acquisition because it serves as a first step in serving our unbanked countrymen,” said Eugene S. Acevedo, CitySavings chairman of the board and UnionBank senior executive vice president. “We are grateful to the founding owners of FairBank for trusting us to continue their microfinance mission.”

CitySavings is the thrift banking arm of UBP while UPI manages the buildings and other real properties that are either wholly- or partially-owned by UBP.

After the acquisition, FairBank will remain structurally separate and will maintain and keep its company name and organization as well as its brand identity as a “dependable partner for a brighter future,” UPI and City Savings told the Philippine Stock Exchange.

Established in 1999, FairBank has more than 200 employees and total resources of more than P360 million. It has more than 10,000 borrowers and a depositors’ base of over 20,000.

“This partnership shall strengthen our tenacity and open new possibilities,” said Dinah Fernan Verallo, president, CEO and chair of FairBank.