The Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) is the Philippines’ ‘Best Domestic Bank’ and the ‘Best Bank for CSR’, according to Asiamoney in the prestigious regional financial publication’s Best Bank Awards 2022.
“Even when the economy was hit by the pandemic and the impact of higher inflation in 2021, the team run by president and chief executive Jose Teodoro Limcaoco managed to increase BPI’s market share in banking system deposits, loans and assets under management,” Asiamoney said.
“BPI’s cross-border remittances business is hard for peers to match, as is the bank’s footprint across bancassurance, asset finance and leasing,” it added.
As Best Domestic Bank, BPI’s key milestones center on its thrust to reinvent the Bank and banking by means of digitalization and a culture change.
“We are deliberately shifting towards digital in all aspects of our operations and we continue to transform our culture — embedding sustainability and customer obsession in our DNA, to better serve and help our clients create a better tomorrow,” said BPI President and CEO Jose Teodoro K. Limcaoco.
In 2021, BPI posted solid financial results. The Bank recorded a net income of Php 23.88 billion, up 11.5% on lower provisions, record fee income, and controlled expenses. BPI also saw its Return on Equity (ROE) rise to 8.40% from 7.70% in the previous year. In the first half of 2022, BPI delivered strong results, posting a net income of P20.4 billion up 73.0% year-on-year on higher revenues and lower provisions.
As the Best Bank for CSR, a back-to-back win, BPI demonstrates its commitment to responsible banking, financial inclusion, and sustainability through its operations and its social development arm — BPI Foundation.
“BPI is expanding its industry-leading financial education initiatives, dubbed FinEd Unboxed which aims to support the needs and aspirations of educators,” Asiamoney noted. The rationale is that empowering the teaching and non-teaching personnel of the Department of Education, and nurturing the roles in society, pays broader economic dividends.
Asiamoney also highlighted the foundation’s current approach of thinking outside of the box to help underserved communities.
“We believe that our business cannot be truly successful when the communities around us are falling behind. At BPI Foundation, it is our commitment to enable and develop our underserved communities by helping them create a financial wellness culture and by being their agent for sustainable positive change,” said BPI Foundation Executive Director Owen Cammayo.
BPI Foundation continues to mark itself as a changemaker in the Philippines, reaching millions of beneficiaries in 62 out of 81 provinces in 2021 through advocacies on Financial Wellness, Sustainable Positive Change, and Bayanihan (spirit of civic unity and cooperation).
A division of global media London-based group Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC,
Asiamoney, through its Best Bank Awards, aims to identify which banks in eight markets in Asia have excelled across a range of core banking activities over the past 12 months. Its award decisions were made by a team of senior journalists after receiving detailed submissions from market participants in conjunction with research into the banking and capital markets by its editorial committee.