Union Bank branches seen reaching 200 this year

MANILA, Philippines -  Union Bank of the Philippines, the banking arm of the Aboitizes Group is expecting its branch network to increase to 200 this year, its official said over the weekend.

UnionBank president and chief operating officer Vic Valdepeñas said increasing the number of their branches has always been part of the bank’s overall thrust.

“Yes we have plans. We have inaugurated another branch in our Medical City branch. Here also in Makati. Last month, we just opened our Nuvali, Sta Rosa Branch. We have some coming in the next few months, they are all under construction,” he said. “By the end of the year we expect to hit almost 200 branches.”

According to Valdepeñas, they want to improve their presence in the farthest parts of the country. We continue to complete our network farther and farther so that any significant urban area that requires financial services, our strategy is to be present in that area,” he said.

As of June 30, 2012, the bank has 186 branches and 203 on-site and 20 off-site automated teller machines, located nationwide.

Aside from the branch expansion, the bank is also seeing active participation in various public and private fund-raising projects.