BDO integrates savings bank

The branches of Equitable Savings Bank (ESB), previously classified as a thrift bank, has been converted into full-service branches under Banco de Oro Unibank Inc. (BDO).

The commercial bank of the SM Group of Companies will have a total of 700 branches nationwide with the full integration of the former thrift bank branch network.

That makes BDO the country’s largest commercial bank in terms of branches.

With the integration, ESB customers will gain access to BDO’s range of products and services as well as the ease and convenience of bringing their financial needs and transactions to the bank’s branch network nationwide.

Furthermore, they can utilize more than 1,200 ATMs in strategic sites around the country.

Last October, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved the four-way merger between the BDO Elite Savings Bank (BDO Elite), and PCI Capital Corp. (PCI Capital), ESB and BDO. BDO emerged the surviving entity.

BDO Capital Corp. will assume all the investment banking functions of PCI Capital Corp.

BDO said that the four-way merger “is in line with the BDO Group’s policy of streamlines operations and rationalization of the group’s organizational structure.”

“Cost savings are expected to be realized by consolidation of administrative functions, elimination of redundancies, and unified branding and advertising. The four-way merger will also optimize the capital structure of the group,” the BDO said.

Earlier, BDO president and chief executive officer Nestor V. Tan said that the productivity of the two thrift bank outlets would allow BDO to offer a wider array of bank products and services as branches of a universal bank.

Tan added that the additional cost for the integration of the three former subsidiaries would come from its integration budget.

“We do not need additional capital expenditures, it is already budgeted,” the BDO chief executive added.

The integration started with the acquisition of Equitable PCI Bank in 2006 and the banking operations of American Express Bank.