The Real Bank: 35 years of real banking

MANILA, Philippines - The world is constantly on a fast-paced mode. Consumers are discerning of the services rendered them. They expect that products and services in the marketplace are of better quality, more improved, more efficient.

These are the things that the people behind the 35-year-old The Real Bank always have in mind.

“We think of our clients all the time. We want them to experience that with us, they have a foundation that will not bow to the winds of change. We put our depositors and customers at the center of our innovations,” says The Real Bank chairman Jose Araullo.

This means, for example, that when depositors need to withdraw their money, they will get it easily and promptly, with the bank’s personnel recognizing that depositors do not necessarily have a lot of their time on their hands, thus want to quickly conclude their transactions.

Araullo adds that putting the customer first also means that when clients want to take out a car, housing or business loan, the bank’s loan and branch officers are on hand to patiently explain the terms and conditions so that potential borrowers will know up to how much they can borrow and how much they have to pay every month.

And if the bank says it will approve the loan in seven or 15 days, then the loan decision is made in seven or 15 days or less. Trained loan officers are also there to help loan clients comply with the requirements to make the loan application process stress-free.

“For The Real Bank, its services are not just about earning the interest from the loan, but more importantly about partnering with the clients who are taking serious steps toward buying their first car, building their first home or growing their business. Its deposit products are likewise not about promising interest rates that it won’t be able to pay in the end,” says The Real Bank president Alfredo Barretto.

According to Barretto, what The Real Bank offers in the end to its customers are services that they can trust, and a solemn promise that they can rely on the bank to be a constant in changing, uncertain times.

Adds Barretto: “The Real Bank is built on Filipino ideals of hard work, perseverance and determination to succeed. These virtues have pushed the bank into becoming what it is today, a bank that everyone can trust and be truly proud of.”

Trust, however, takes years to be earned, thus it took a while for the bank’s brand of banking service to earn the attention and loyalty of Filipinos.  But according to the 73-year-old Araullo, the time, money and human resources invested in cementing that trust in the years since the new management took over eight years ago are now paying off for the growing thrift bank.

This is why over the past eight years, the bank’s resources has grown over 1,400 percent from just P700 million to P11 billion as of the last count. And more importantly, the number of its depositors has likewise grown by leaps and bounds, with many more adding to the number every day and coming from the ranks of small and medium enterprises, young professionals and small savers.

Just how far The Real Bank has gone from its humble beginnings in 1976 was brought to the fore during the bank’s rousing 35th anniversary celebration with the theme “Being Real in a Changing World”, which was held at the Rigodon Ballroom of the Manila Peninsula Hotel.

The message of the anniversary celebration highlighted that The Real Bank was nimble enough to quickly adapt to the fast-changing circumstances and conditions under which it operates, but has managed to hold fast to its firm ideals that make The Real Bank special.

While in the middle of expansion and development, the bank does not also forget its social commitment. So, it invests, too, on a values advocacy that centers on thrift and saving. It partnered with the Department of Education and advocacy firm Marylindbert International to develop a savings program designed to encourage more students to value money and save even a peso a day for their future. This advocacy has garnered the prestigious Bronze Anvil Award from the Public Relations Society of the Philippines.

As a thrift bank, The Real Bank has become a force to reckon with. It helps, of course, that at the helm of the bank are Araullo, a respected banker and founder of auditing firm Punongbayan & Araullo; and Barretto, who is renowned in the competitive industry for his banking expertise. ?

With the help of the bank’s dedicated and loyal staff, they steered the bank toward a more profitable path. By the strength of their reputation for living according to the highest moral and ethical standards, The Real Bank got the market to stand up and take notice of its operations.