525 new bank branches added to PHL banking system in 2013

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Category: Top News

24 Mar 2014

 

Written by Bianca Cuaresma

More than 500 new bank branches were added to the Philippines banking system last year, as local lenders tried to expand their market reach in preparation for the upcoming regional financial integration.

The local banking industry ended 2013 with a total of 9,935 bank branches nationwide. A total 525 new bank branches were opened during the year.

 The National Capital Region (NCR) still leads the other regions with the most number of bank offices. As of end-December 2013, the nation’s capital region has about a third of the entire physical branch network of the banking industry, with 3,141 branches operating in the area.

This was followed by the Calabarzon region (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon) with 1,509 bank branches as of end-2013. This was also about 15 percent of the total number of bank branches in the region. Central Luzon, meanwhile, has 998 bank branches as of end last year, or 10 percent of the total bank branches in the region.

The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) has the least number of bank branches in the country with only 21 operating lenders as of end-2013. This was followed by the Cordillera Administrative Region, with only 150 bank branches in total, and by Eastern Visayas, with 183 bank branches.

 In terms of type of lenders, universal and commercial banks still accounted for the largest share of the entire banking system. In particular, there were 5,461 universal and commercial banks in the country. This represented some 55 percent of the total bank branches. This was also 316 branches larger than the 5,145 universal and commercial banks seen in the same period in 2012.

 For the smaller banks in the country, rural and cooperative banks ended the year with 2,646 branches, while thrift banks had 1,828 branches. For thrift banks, as well as for universal and commercial banks, NCR, Calabarzon and Central Luzon still had the most number of bank branches as of end-2013. For rural and cooperative banks, however, Calabarzon, Central Luzon and Western Visayas had the most number of bank branches.

 Earlier, BSP Deputy Governor for the Supervision and Examination Sector Nestor Espenilla Jr. said banks are starting to expand their reach by actively opening up new branches to serve locals. He also said banks were, likewise, trying to open up new branches outside the country to “test their wings” for the upcoming regional integration.

 BSP data showed that there are a total of 51 Philippine bank branches operating overseas as of end-2013. This was larger than the 35 Philippine bank branches seen at end-March 2013.