The or '''BPI''' () is the oldest
Bank in the
Philippines still in operation and is the second-largest bank in the country in terms of assets, second only to
Metrobank . It is owned by the
Ayala Corporation and is based in
Makati City 's Central Business District, on the corner of Ayala Avenue and Paseo de Roxas, across from the Philippine headquarters of
HSBC .
BPI is also the oldest bank in
Southeast Asia and has a long and distinguished history that spans over a
Century . It has either influenced or has been influenced by many nations, including parts of the former
Spanish Empire , especially
Mexico , and the
United States . While it is considered by many as an old institution, BPI is trying, with moderate success, to promote itself as a dynamic institution that caters to its various
Client s, which hail from various sectors of Philippine society.
BPI also pioneered rural banking in the Philippines, as its countryside banking operations preceded that of many other banks' rural banking operations by many years. Today, it maintains a large rural branch network, with some branches dating bank to the Spanish or American colonial periods. Its network of 709 branches is by far one of the largest branch networks of any bank in the Philippines.
The bank has received several awards from various financial magazines, such as
Euromoney and the
Far Eastern Economic Review . Its most recent award was for the best retail bank in the Philippines in
2005 .
BPI was established on
August 1 ,
1851 as the
Banco Español-Filipino De Isabel II (Spanish-Filipino Bank of Isabel II), named after the queen of
Spain ,
Isabella II , the daughter of former king
Ferdinand VII . The bank was the second Philippine bank during the Spanish era after a bank was founded by Francisco Rodriguez, a Filipino
Quaker based in
London , in
1830 . Today, Rodriguez's bank no longer exists.
The royal decree establishing the Banco Español-Filipino also gave it the power to print Philippine currency, the first time the
Philippine Peso was printed in the country (before 1851, a multitude of currencies were used, most notably the
Mexican Peso ). They were originally called "pesos fuertes" (PF), or "strong pesos". First printed on
May 1 ,
1852 , they were reedemable at face value for gold or silver Mexican coins. The first deposit with the bank was also done on that day by a man named Fulgencio Barrera. Three days later, a Chinese man named Tadian became the first borrowing client of the bank after the bank discounted to him a
Promissory Note amounting to ten thousand pesos fuertes.
On
September 3 ,
1869 , following a revolution which overthrew Isabella II, the name was changed to Banco Español-Filipino. In January
1892 , the bank moved from the Royal Custom House in Intramuros to the new business district of
Binondo , north of the
Pasig River after it found out that Intramuros was becoming "economically inactive". It moved to 4 Plaza Cervantes, which was at that time a prime property owned by the Dominican friars.
The first branch of Banco Español-Filipino outside
Manila was opened in
Iloilo on
March 15 ,
1897 . However, the idea to set up branches outside Manila was formulated as far back as the 1850s, with the first branch planned to be opened in
Bacolor , the capital of
Pampanga at the time. But by then, Iloilo became more productive than Pampanga in the sugar industry, hence the move to open the first branch in Iloilo instead of Bacolor.
Following the cession of the Philippines to the
United States following the signing of the
1898 Treaty Of Paris , the bank changed from a Spanish institution to a Philippine one. On
January 1 ,
1912 , a decision by the shareholders of Banco Español-Filipino changed the name to the present Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI), or Banco de las Islas Filipinas in
Spanish . The basis for the name change was
Act No. 1790, passed on
October 12 ,
1907 , which permitted the bank to change its name. The bank was also privatized during the American colonial period.
Following
World War II , BPI was actively involved in the post-war reconstruction of the Philippines. In
1949 , with the establishment of the Central Bank of the Philippines (now the
Bangko Sentral Ng Pilipinas ), BPI (and other banks issuing Philippine currency) lost the right to issue Philippine pesos, a right it had since the Spanish colonial era and (with competition from other banks) during the American colonial period.
In
1969 ,
Ayala Corporation , which had been affiliated with BPI since its establishment in
1851 , became the dominant shareholder of BPI and eventually made BPI into the flagship of Ayala's financial entities.
Starting in the 1970s, BPI has been involved with many mergers and acquisitions. The first merger occurred in
1974 with BPI's acquisition of the
People's Bank And Trust Company . Major notable acquisitions include
Citytrust Savings Bank , a unit of
Citibank , in
1996 and
Far East Bank And Trust Company on
April 7 ,
2000 . The merger with Far East Bank is arguably the largest in Philippine banking history. The latest acquisition occurred in
2002 with the acquisition of
DBS Bank Philippines , a subsidiary of
DBS Bank . However, the BPI-DBS deal permitted DBS Bank to hold a stake in BPI.
In
1982 , BPI became a
Universal Bank , and in 2000, became the Philippines' first
Bancassurance firm, being the first Philippine bank to offer insurance services after acquiring the insurance companies of the
Ayala Group , the parent company of the Ayala Corporation. Within that year, BPI also founded the
BPI Direct Savings Bank , an
Internet bank.
BPI is divided into the following subsidiaries and affiliates:
¹ Includes
DBS Bank
² Voting powers are under the authority of the Archbishop
BPI's main competitor is
Metrobank . However, other competitors include
Equitable PCI Bank ,
Land Bank Of The Philippines and
Philippine National Bank .
BPI does not compete with its two banking partners:
BPI Family Savings Bank and
BPI Direct Savings Bank . Instead, they offer different levels of services based on the needs of the potential BPI client(s).
BPI is highly regarded as one of the best Philippine banks. It has received a multutude of awards which are listed below:
BPI is known for its firsts which are listed below:
- BPI is the first bank in the Philippines and in Southeast Asia
- BPI is the first bank to issue the Philippine Peso
- BPI financed the first Rail system, Telephone system, Electric Power utility, and Steamship service in the Philippines
- BPI established the Philippines' first ATM system, with its ATMs being called Express Tellers. The system eventually evolved into the Expressnet ATM consortium, which has seven members
- BPI pioneered the concept of the banking Kiosk in the Philippines, with its kiosks being called Express Banking Center s or EBCs or by its older name, the Convenience Banking Center . EBCs can be found in malls, supermarkets, plazas and other locations
- BPI is the first bank in the Philippines to make use of a Call Center and telephone banking, known as BPI Express Phone
