Bank of the Philippine Islands named best RP retail bank in 2002

The Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) has been adjudged as the best retail bank in the Philippines by The Asian Banker Journal, a prestigious regional financial publication.

The title was given by the publication based on a survey covering 112 banks in the Asia Pacific region 20 of which are located in the Philippines.

BPI was named as such "for having a good product base and a coherent consumer banking strategy in a highly fragmented market."

The Ayala-led commercial bank reported posted an impressive 72 percent increase innet income and manged to increase its consumer loan by 13 percent on a year-to-year basis despite the contraction of the local consumer loan market, and has provided a cushion against the weak corporate banking environment.

"While being the second largest bank in the Philippines allows BPI to command superlatives in its distribution network, what we liked was the integration of its channels. For example, upon account opening, a depositor is enrolled in the check-free facility for payment to merchants accessible via the ATM (automatic teller machine), phone and internet," Titien Ahmad, research manager for The Asian Banker Research, a sister firm of the financial publication.

"It was BPI’s implementation of customer relationship management (CRM) that gave it the lead against any other technology innovator in the marketplace this year," Titien added.

The survey said that BPI’s CRM inititative was significant for two reasons. First, it will enable the bank to identify and win back profitable customers lost to foreign banks. Second, it has certainly proved to be another layer in priming the branch network to be more sales-focused.

In looking at its overall retail strategy, "we believe that BPI is making the right move in looking to expand through acquisitions rather than attempt organic growth in a highly-fragmented consumer banking market."

In a press statement, it said that the Excellence in Retail Financial Services awards was instituted to define and encourage retail banks to focus on building business franchises that are sustainable, competitive and profitable over a period of time.

The program was instituted on the premise that an outstanding player in the retail financial services industry should demonstrate a coherent and sustainable retail banking strategy.

"Rapid deregulation, the continuing impact of the Internet, declining margins and keen competition from both traditional and non-traditional quarters are creating enormous challenges for the industry," the research head said.

Meanwhile, Standard Chartered Bank won the best retail bank in Asia title as well as the retail process excellence award.

By country, the leaders are: the ICBC (China); ICBC Bank (India); HSBC (Hongkong); Kookmin Bank (Korea); Citibank (Malaysia); Chinatrust (Taiwan); Bangkok Bank (Thailand); and Lippo Bank (Indonesia).