Producers Bank, the fourth (4th) biggest rural bank in the country in resources, is now a savings bank after it has obtained approval from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to upgrade its banking license.
The Monetary Board in its Resolution No. 1158 dated August 13, 2009 has approved Producers Bank’s application to move a notch higher with the conversion of its license from a rural bank to a thrift bank.
With the upgrading of Producers Bank’s banking operations, which comes after its recent acquisition of a 49-percent stake in Iloilo City Development Bank (ICDBank), a 46-year old thrift bank based in Iloilo City, it is expected to expand the Bank’s array of products and services.
Mr. Edmundo C. Medrano, Vice Chairman, President and COO, said that Producers Bank will continue to focus on the countryside and will continue to serve its main customers—the progressive farms, small and medium enterprises and microfinance non-government organizations (NGOs). However Producers Bank will add consumer loans, particularly end-user housing loans, to its product offerings as well as domestic trade finance.
A thrift bank with its head office located in Metro Manila is required by BSP to put up a minimum capital of P325 million. Producers Bank, whose head office is located in Ortigas Center, Pasig City, has already exceeded this minimum requirement.
Meanwhile, in a letter dated September 09, 2009, the BSP Central Applications and Licensing Group stated the approval of Producers Bank’s application to open five (5) new branches. With the approval, Producers Bank will have additional three (3) branches in Pangasinan namely Carmen, Umingan and Mangatarem and two (2) additonal branches in Albay named Polangui and Tabaco. The approval brings the number of branches of Producers Bank to fifty five (55) bankwide.