BPI’s Interest in Citibank Piqued After Retail Banking Exit Announcement

The Bank of the Philippines Islands (BPI) has set its eyes on doubling its consumer banking business after it recently expressed interest in the retail banking business of Citigroup Inc.

Late last week, the New York-based Citibank announced that it was exiting its retail banking operations in the Philippines alongside 12 other countries, focusing its global consumer bank presence in Singapore, Hong Kong, United Arab Emirates, and London instead.

The Philippines was the star of Citibank’s global retail network, said Jose Teodoro Limcaoco, BPI’s newly introduced president and CEO, in a virtual press briefing.

“People have reached out to us to tell us what the plans are for the Philippines. It’s quite public knowledge that they will exit and that they will try to sell the business. We have told them that as soon as there is any information, to send us the information and we will take a look at it,” Limcaoco explained.

“We have always been admirers of the Citibank retail business. It is an excellent franchise,” he added. Limcaoco also noted that the retail banking operations of Citi and BPI share “very similar” customer profiles.

“People go to Citi because of the name and the trust that they have in the institution. I think that is our biggest advantage also, that BPI clearly has the best name in the Philippines. So it’s very complementary,” said Limcaoco.

BPI executive vice president and head of mass retail segment Jojo Ocampo echoed the firm’s interest in Citi’s retail banking portfolio in the Philippines.

“We like the Citibank portfolio a lot.  We like the quality of their portfolio, we like the talent, and we like the technology,” Ocampo stated.

Citi Philippines’ Institutional Clients Group provides outstanding financial services for its wide range of clientele within the country including the public sector, prominent Filipino corporates, multinationals, and financial institutions.

“On a combined basis, if you put BPI and Citibank portfolio, we will almost double the BPI business. So yes, we’re very keen on looking at the Citibank business,” he added.

The merger between BPI and BPI Family Savings Bank Inc. was recently approved by BPI’s stockholders. Moreover, the planned hike in capitalization to ₱50.6 billion was also approved.

Source: Philstar