BPI BanKo to open 100 more branches in 2019

BPI Direct BanKo on Wednesday said it is on track to reach 200 branches by the end of the year, with plans to open 100 more across the Philippines in 2019.

According to BanKO President Jerome Minglana, the lender now has 165 branches across the country and is on track to achieve its goal of 200 branches by the end of 2018.

"As we speak, it's on the 165 in count, but the goal is really to build those 35 extra branches until the end of the year," he told reporters in a press conference in Quezon City.

"If it's readiness to serve, we should have all 200 branches ready to serve including its people two weeks before year-end," he elaborated.

Minglana earlier said the company is banking on self-employed microentrepreneurs 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 the payment method.

For the following year, Minglana said BanKo is poised to open 100 more branches across the country, with more in the Mindanao region.

"We are gunning after another 100 branches next year. We hope to end next year with 300 branches operating," said Minglana.

From the 20 branches it currently has in Mindanao, Minglana said BanKo hopes to more than double this by 2019.

"I think [currently] slightly more than 20. We're looking at ending [2018] I think about 30, so probably we'll be about 40, 45 next year, at the end of next year," he said.

"The goal was to be present, to have representation in all the big regions but in Mindanao, we feel that there are less banks there and as such we want to be there too," added Minglana. — BM, GMA News