BPI targets full integration of Robinsons Bank by October

MANILA, Philippines — Ayala-led Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) is set to complete the full integration of Robinsons Bank this year, with all Robinsons Bank branches expected to be rebranded as BPI branches by October.

Elfren Antonio Sarte, BPI executive vice president and former Robinsons Bank CEO, said that some Robinsons Bank branches were already integrated in 2024 and BPI intends to complete the transition within this year.

“By October, all Robinsons Bank branches will be branded as BPI,” he said, adding that customers will no longer see standalone Robinsons Bank branches by then.

“BPI is still working on converting around 150 Robinsons Bank branches to complete the transition. “We have only converted less than ten so far, so there’s still a long way to go,” Sarte said.

Prior to the merger, Robinsons Bank had around 180 branches nationwide. This included 14 branches and 14 branch-lite units of its subsidiary, Legazpi Savings Bank.

As part of the initial steps in the integration process, BPI ensured that customers of both banks could use ATMs across both networks without fees.

“The first thing we did was to remove fees for cross-network ATM transactions between BPI and Robinsons Bank customers,” Sarte said.

However, the main challenge lies in transferring all operations to a single system, with BPI’s infrastructure as the foundation.

The integration process is being carried out in tranches to ensure a smooth transition for customers.

“Some branches will be consolidated, while others will be transferred to existing BPI locations,” he said.

“It’s about rationalizing which setup works best for our customers,” he added.

Despite the merger, Robinsons Bank’s contribution to BPI’s overall assets and income remains relatively small.

“We estimate that Robinsons Bank contributes around six percent to BPI in terms of assets and income. We transferred about P180 billion in assets, which is not that big compared to the overall scale of BPI,” Sarte said.

The Ayala-led bank saw its net income jump by 20 percent to hit an all-time high of P62 billion in 2024 from the previous year’s P51.7 billion, driven by higher revenues.

For the fourth quarter alone, the bank’s net income inched up by eight percent to P14.1 billion from P13.1 billion in the same quarter in 2023 on higher revenue growth.