![Bank of the Philippine Islands Don Roman Santos Building](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e5/Bank_of_the_Philippine_Islands_Don_Roman_Santos_Building.jpg)
Bank of the Philippine Islands ( fil, Bangko ng Kapuluang Pilipinas, es, Banco de las Islas Filipinas, commonly known as BPI; ) is a
universal bank
A universal bank participates in many kinds of banking activities and is both a commercial bank and an investment bank as well as providing other financial services such as insurance.Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
. It is the first
bank
A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets.
Because ...
in both the Philippines and
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...
.
It is the fourth largest bank in terms of assets, the second largest bank in terms of market capitalization,
and one of the most profitable banks in the Philippines.
The bank has a network of over 900 branches in the Philippines, Hong Kong and Europe, and more than 3,000
ATMs and CDMs (cash deposit machines).
BPI was founded during the
Spanish colonial era of the Philippines
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...
as El Banco Español Filipino de Isabel II. It provided credit to the National Treasury and printed and issued the
Philippine peso fuerte
The Philippine peso fuerte (Spanish "Strong Peso" sign: PF) was the first paper currency of the Philippines and the Spanish East Indies during the later Spanish colonial period. It co-circulated with other Spanish silver and gold coins and was is ...
, a precursor to today's
Philippine peso
The Philippine peso, also referred to by its Tagalog name ''piso'' (Philippine English: , , plural pesos; tl, piso ; sign: ₱; code: PHP), is the official currency of the Philippines. It is subdivided into 100 ''sentimo'', also called ce ...
.
History
Colonial period
BPI was established on August 1, 1851, as the "El Banco Español Filipino de Isabel II" (), named after the
Queen
Queen or QUEEN may refer to:
Monarchy
* Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom
** List of queens regnant
* Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king
* Queen dowager, the widow of a king
* Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...
of
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
,
Isabella II
Isabella II ( es, Isabel II; 10 October 1830 – 9 April 1904), was Queen of Spain from 29 September 1833 until 30 September 1868.
Shortly before her birth, the King Ferdinand VII of Spain issued a Pragmatic Sanction to ensure the successio ...
, the daughter of King
Ferdinand VII
, house = Bourbon-Anjou
, father = Charles IV of Spain
, mother = Maria Luisa of Parma
, birth_date = 14 October 1784
, birth_place = El Escorial, Spain
, death_date =
, death_place = Madrid, Spain
, burial_plac ...
. It was the first government bank in the Philippines and the third Philippine bank during the Spanish era. One of the founders and primary shareholders at that time was José Joaquín de Ynchausti of
Ynchausti y Cía, a prominent Philippine multi-national conglomerate who also founded
Tanduay Distillery and built
the Puente Colgante. José was the managing director of the bank from 1868 to 1873 and 1876 to 1884.
The royal decree establishing the Banco Español-Filipino also gave it the power to print Philippine currency, the first time the
Philippine peso
The Philippine peso, also referred to by its Tagalog name ''piso'' (Philippine English: , , plural pesos; tl, piso ; sign: ₱; code: PHP), is the official currency of the Philippines. It is subdivided into 100 ''sentimo'', also called ce ...
was printed in the country; before 1851, a multitude of currencies were used, most notably the
Mexican peso
The Mexican peso (Currency symbol, symbol: $; ISO 4217, code: MXN) is the currency of Mexico. Modern peso and dollar currencies have a common origin in the 16th–19th century Spanish dollar, most continuing to use dollar sign, its sign, "$".
...
. They were originally called Philippine peso fuerte (PF), or "strong pesos". First printed on May 1, 1852, they were redeemable 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
A promissory note, sometimes referred to as a note payable, is a legal instrument (more particularly, a financing instrument and a debt instrument), in which one party (the ''maker'' or ''issuer'') promises in writing to pay a determinate sum of ...
amounting to ten thousand pesos fuertes.
On September 3, 1869, following a
revolution
In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...
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
Intramuros (Latin for "inside the walls") is the historic walled area within the city of Manila, the capital of the Philippines. It is administered by the Intramuros Administration with the help of the city government of Manila.
Present-day I ...
to the new business district of
Binondo
Binondo () is a district in Manila and is referred to as the city's Chinatown. Its influence extends beyond to the places of Quiapo, Santa Cruz, San Nicolas and Tondo. It is the oldest Chinatown in the world, established in 1594 by the ...
after it found out that Intramuros was becoming "economically inactive". It moved to 4
Plaza Cervantes corner Juan Luna Street 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 City
Iloilo City, officially the City of Iloilo ( hil, Siyudad/Dakbanwa sang Iloilo; fil, Lungsod ng Iloilo), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the Western Visayas region of the Philippines on the island of Panay. It is the capital city of t ...
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
Bacolor, officially the Municipality of Bacolor ( pam, Balen ning Bakúlud; tgl, Bayan ng Bacolor), is a 3rd class municipality in the province of Pampanga, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 48,066 people.
Bacolor ...
, the capital of
Pampanga
Pampanga, officially the Province of Pampanga ( pam, Lalawigan ning Pampanga; tl, Lalawigan ng Pampanga ), is a province in the Central Luzon region of the Philippines. Lying on the northern shore of Manila Bay, Pampanga is bordered by Tarlac ...
at the time. However, by then,
Iloilo
Iloilo (), officially the Province of Iloilo ( hil, Kapuoran sang Iloilo; krj, Kapuoran kang Iloilo; tl, Lalawigan ng Iloilo), is a province in the Philippines located in the Western Visayas region. Its capital is the City of Iloilo, the ...
and other provinces in
Panay
Panay is the sixth-largest and fourth-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total land area of and has a total population of 4,542,926 as of 2020 census. Panay comprises 4.4 percent of the entire population of the country. The City o ...
had become more productive than Pampanga in the
sugar industry
The sugar industry subsumes the production, processing and marketing of sugars (mostly sucrose and fructose). Globally, most sugar is extracted from sugar cane (~80% predominantly in the tropics) and sugar beet (~ 20%, mostly in temperate cli ...
, hence the move to open the first branch in Iloilo.
Following the cession of the Philippines to the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
with 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
Republic 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
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, 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
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (; commonly abbreviated as BSP in both Filipino and English) is the central bank of the Philippines. It was established on July 3, 1993, pursuant to the provision of Republic Act 7653 or the New Central Bank Act ...
), BPI lost the right to issue Philippine pesos, a right it had since the Spanish colonial era and during the American colonial period.
Contemporary history
On December 31, 1969,
Ayala Corporation
Ayala Corporation (Spanish: ''Corporación Ayala'', formerly ''Ayala y Compañía'' (Ayala & Company)) is the publicly listed holding company for the diversified interests of the Ayala Group. Founded in the Philippines by Domingo Róxas and A ...
, 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 Commercial Bank and Trust Company in 1981, CityTrust Banking Corporation in 1996, Far East Bank and Trust Company in 2000, Prudential Bank in 2005 and BPI's subsidiary BPI Family Savings Bank in early-2022.
In 1982, BPI became a universal bank, and in 2000, became the Philippines' first bank assurance firm, being the first Philippine bank to offer insurance services after acquiring the insurance companies of the Ayala Corporation, the parent company of the Ayala Corporation. Within that year, BPI also founded the BPI Direct Savings Bank, an Internet bank.
On February 14, 1986, BPI established its own interbank network,
Expressnet
Expressnet is an interbank network connecting the ATM networks of seven major banks in the Philippines. It has the second-largest number of ATMs (largely due to the vast nationwide presence of Bank of the Philippine Islands Express Teller AT ...
.
In October 2015, BPI launched their "Make the Best Things Happen" campaign.
In the second quarter of 2019, BPI will start constructing its new headquarters in Makati. BPI has tapped
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) is an American architectural, urban planning and engineering firm. It was founded in 1936 by Louis Skidmore and Nathaniel A. Owings, Nathaniel Owings in Chicago, Illinois. In 1939, they were joined by engineer Jo ...
for its design. The old building will be demolished to make space for the new building.
In August 2019, BPI relaunched its new logo and new slogan ''Ready Today, Ready Tomorrow''.
2017 system glitch
On the morning of June 7, 2017, a data processing glitch affected BPI clients making their account balances incorrect. Some clients had either a negative balance or an increased amount of money in their account. The error was fixed in the evening, but the next day, June 8, BPI suspended electronic services because incorrect balances occurred again. The services were restored once more on the evening of the same day upon fixing the defect.
BPI BanKo
BPI Direct BanKo, Inc., A Savings Bank (operating as BPI BanKo) is a wholly owned subsidiary of BPI established through the merging of BPI Direct Savings Bank (the first
internet-based bank in the country), allowing
expatriate Filipinos and overseas workers in countries like
Bahrain
Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...
or
Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
to access and manage their bank accounts at any time) and the BPI Globe Banko.
BPI Globe BanKo's predecessor BPI Direct Savings Bank, was incorporated and registered with the
Securities and Exchange Commission
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government, created in the aftermath of the Wall Street Crash of 1929. The primary purpose of the SEC is to enforce the law against market ...
on September 26, 1986, primarily as a subsidiary meant to engage in the general business of savings and mortgage banking.
In 2000, BPI Direct underwent a major image change as it became the first Philippine bank designed around the telephone and online banking channels. Two years later, BPI Direct realigned its business strategy towards the Overseas Filipino community.
As the result of BPI Direct and with BPI Globe BanKo (another thrift bank unit of BPI) merging in December 2016 forming BPI Direct BanKO Inc. (BPI BanKo).
BPI's consolidation of its two subsidiaries forming BPI Direct BanKo, is its answer to the growing microfinance-small and medium enterprise finance industry sector in the Philippines, competing directly with notable SME/Microfinance institution in the country -
ASA Philippines,
Card Bank
The Center for Agriculture and Rural Development, Inc. (better known as Card Bank, Inc.) is a micro-finance oriented rural bank in the Philippines established in 1997, and is currently regulated by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. Its main offic ...
(CardBank and Card SME Bank), and
LifeBank MFI.
Subsidiaries and partners
BPI is divided into the following subsidiaries and affiliates:
*BPI Asset Management and Trust Corporation
*BPI Capital Corp.
*BPI Computer Systems Corp.
*
BPI Family Savings Bank BPI may refer to:
In banking:
*Banca Popolare Italiana, an Italian bank merged into Banco Popolare
*Banco Português de Investimento, a Portuguese bank
*Bank of the Philippine Islands, the oldest bank in the Philippines
*Bpifrance, a French bank
I ...
(
Savings bank
A savings bank is a financial institution whose primary purpose is accepting savings account, savings deposits and paying interest on those deposits.
History of banking, They originated in Europe during the 18th century with the aim of providi ...
of BPI)
* BPI BanKo (merged BPI Direct Savings Bank and BPI Globe BanKO Savings Bank) (Small and medium enterprise and microfinance oriented rural-savings bank of BPI)
*BPI Forex Corp.
*
BPI Foundation, Inc.
*BPI International Finance Ltd.
*BPI Investment Management. Inc.
*BPI Leasing Corp.
*BPI Operations Mgt. Corp.
*BPI Rental Corp.
*
BPI Securities Corp. BPI may refer to:
In banking:
*Banca Popolare Italiana, an Italian bank merged into Banco Popolare
*Banco Português de Investimento, a Portuguese bank
*Bank of the Philippine Islands, the oldest bank in the Philippines
* Bpifrance, a French bank
...
*
BPI/MS Insurance Corp.
On September 30, 2022, BPI and
Robinsons Bank
Robinsons Bank Corporation, also known as RBank, is a commercial bank which provides banking services for retail and business customers in the Philippines.
History
The company was formerly known as Robinsons Savings Bank and changed its name t ...
disclosed their merger expected to complete by December 31, 2023, with BPI as the surviving entity.
Ownership
* PCD Nominee Corporation : 36.9799%
*
Ayala Corporation
Ayala Corporation (Spanish: ''Corporación Ayala'', formerly ''Ayala y Compañía'' (Ayala & Company)) is the publicly listed holding company for the diversified interests of the Ayala Group. Founded in the Philippines by Domingo Róxas and A ...
: 22.1635%
* Liontide Holdings
1: 20.0349%
* AC International Finance Limited: 8.6475%
*
Archdiocese of Manila
In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop.
History
In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...
2: 7.2656%
*
Michigan
Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...
Holdings : 2.0537%
While Philippine Central Depository is listed a major shareholder, it is more of a trustee-nominee for all shares lodged in the PCD system rather than a single owner/shareholder.
1 Includes
DBS Bank
DBS Bank Limited, often known as DBS, is a Singaporean multinational banking and financial services corporation headquartered at the Marina Bay Financial Centre in the Marina Bay district of Singapore. The bank was previously known as The Dev ...
2 Voting powers vested ''
ex officio
An ''ex officio'' member is a member of a body (notably a board, committee, council) who is part of it by virtue of holding another office. The term '' ex officio'' is Latin, meaning literally 'from the office', and the sense intended is 'by right ...
'' in the
Archbishop of Manila
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Manila ( lat, Archidioecesis Manilensis; fil, Arkidiyosesis ng Maynilà; es, Arquidiócesis de Manila) is the archdiocese of the Latin Church of the Catholic Church in Metro Manila, Philippines, encompassing ...
.
See also
*
BancNet
BancNet (also spelled Bancnet) is a Philippine-based interbank network connecting the ATM networks of local and offshore banks, and the country's single interbank network in the Philippines in terms of the number of member banks and annual tr ...
(the BPI ATM network)
*
List of Philippine companies
*
List of banks in the Philippines
The Philippines has a comprehensive banking system encompassing various types of banks, from large universal banks to small rural banks and even non-banks. As of October 17, 2017, there were 36 universal and commercial banks, 57 savings banks, ...
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bank Of The Philippine Islands
Banks of the Philippines
Companies listed on the Philippine Stock Exchange
Companies based in Makati
Spanish colonial infrastructure in the Philippines
Banks established in 1851
1851 establishments in the Philippines
Ayala Corporation subsidiaries