BPI’s microfinance lender to open 65 branches this year

BPI Direct BanKo, the microfinance subsidiary of Bank of the Philippine Islands, plans to open 65 domestic branches this year, mostly in provincial areas.

The microlender intends to meet its target of operating 200 branches by the end of 2018, BanKo president Jerome Minglana told reporters during a briefing in Quezon City on Monday.

The company now has 135 branches, of which only three are in Metro Manila. Its goal is to penetrate the unserved market in the provinces.

“We study our data. We just don’t go there for the sake of going there. We prioritize kung san marami tayong matutulungan,” Minglana noted.

“For this year, hanggang tatlo lang tayo sa Metro Manila, but most of that—197—will be in the provinces,” he said.

BanKo branches in Metro Manila include one in Greenhills, another in Caloocan, and the newly inaugurate Cubao branch which formally opened on Monday, August 13.

Minglana said the company is banking on self-employed micro entrepreneurs to tap its loan products which cater mostly to micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

The bank lends from P20,000 to P300,000 with interest rates ranging from 2.3 to 3.3 percent, depending on the loan amount and payment method.

Minglana said the company wants to reach 500 branches, with 100 new branches every year.

“That’s the aspiration and our construction team is on their toes. But it can happen that we will miss five branches or so dahil nabagyo or may nangyari sa permit,” — he said. —VDS, GMA News