REUTERS

BANK of the Philippine Islands (BPI) expects to finish rebranding all branches of Robinsons Bank Corp. (RBC) by October.

“By October, all Robinsons Bank branches will be branded as BPI. So, you won’t see any Robinsons branches by October,” BPI Executive Vice-President and RBC President and Chief Executive Officer Elfren Antonio S. Sarte told reporters last week.

As of June 2024, BPI had 865 branches while RBC had 157.

The merger between BPI and RBC took effect on Jan. 1, 2024, with BPI as the surviving entity.

BPI Chief Executive Officer Jose Teodoro K. Limcaoco said in January that all RBC branches should be rebranded by the end of the year, saying a “couple” of branches have been integrated already.

Mr. Sarte said there are more than 150 more RBC branches that needed to be converted as less than 10 branches have undergone rebranding.

BPI’s integration of RBC into its network is being done in tranches, he said.

“It’s really more managing the transition. We’re either consolidating or transferring. There will be some that will be transferring to the BPI side, some that consolidate, or there will be some that will be using the Robinsons Bank side to host BPI. So, it’s more of trying to rationalize which will be good for the customers of both banks,” he said.

Mr. Sarte said that the conversion of RBC’s branches would virtually complete the integration of the bank into BPI’s network.

RBC’s contribution to BPI’s asset base is at roughly P180 billion, which is equivalent to about 6% in terms of assets and income, he added.

“The estimate is that we contribute about 6% to the entire BPI in terms of assets and income. That’s the scale. Because once we ended, we were transferring P180 billion in assets to BPI. That’s not very big considering the scale of BPI,” Mr. Sarte said.

BPI’s total assets stood at P3.35 trillion as of end-2024.

The listed bank’s net profit rose by 20% year on year to a record-high P62 billion last year, driven by double-digit revenue growth.

BPI shares rose by P2.70 or 2.17% to end at P127 apiece on Monday. — Aaron Michael C. Sy