Fintech Salmon to apply for thrift bank license

MANILA, Philippines — Rural Bank Sta. Rosa Laguna Inc. is looking to transition into a thrift bank as part of its growth strategy, with its parent company Salmon Group eyeing to start its application by end-2025.

Raffy Montemayor, Salmon co-founder and Rural Bank of Sta. Rosa Laguna chairman, has expressed readiness to meet the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP)’s stringent requirements.

“Right now, what we can see is that a thrift bank will make sense. But we need to make sure we’re ready capital-wise and (meet) other prudential criteria of the BSP,” he said. “But that’s our ambition, to be a thrift bank.”

Salmon Group has yet to disclose a specific timeline for its application, but has reiterated its commitment to responsible growth and regulatory compliance.

According to Montemayor, the rural bank’s initial authorized capital was around P30 million when it was established in 1963.

When Salmon Group acquired the rural bank in January, the firm raised the bank’s authorized capital to P50 million because this is the base requirement of the BSP for small lenders.

Salmon injected P295 million in May as part of its efforts to further increase the bank’s authorized capital. The bank is now looking to increase its capital further to P1.2 billion next year.

“After we get the approval to increase authorized capital to P1.2 billion, we will file within 2025 to increase the authorized capital to more than P2 billion,” Montemayor said.

“The target of injecting up to P2 billion by end-2025 is to support the further investments in talent, advance technology, new products and loan-portfolio growth of the bank,” he said.

Montemayor also said that Salmon Group plans to launch fundraising activities in the second half of next year. Proceeds from the fundraising will be allocated to product launches and strengthening the bank’s capital base to meet regulatory requirements.