Planters Development Bank, more commonly known as Plantersbank, was a major private

development bank A development financial institution (DFI), also known as a development bank or development finance company (DFC), is a financial institution that provides risk capital for economic development projects on a non-commercial basis. , total commitme ...

in the

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 ...

which mainly catered to

small and medium enterprises Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) or small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are businesses whose personnel and revenue numbers fall below certain limits. The abbreviation "SME" is used by international organizations such as the World Bank ...

(SMEs). At its peak, it was the largest private development bank in the country. It was a

China Banking Corporation China Banking Corporation (; ), commonly known as China Bank, is a Filipino bank established in 1920. It was the first privately owned local commercial bank in the Philippines initially catering to the banking needs of Chinese Filipino businesspe ...

subsidiary from 2014 until it was merged to its parent company's savings bank in 2016.

History

Businessman Jesus Tambunting is credited to have founded Planters Development Bank. The bank traces its roots to two banking institutions in

Bulacan Bulacan, officially the Province of Bulacan ( tl, Lalawigan ng Bulacan), is a province in the Philippines located in the Central Luzon region. Its capital is the city of Malolos. Bulacan was established on August 15, 1578, and part of the Metr ...

; the Bulacan Development Bank (BDB) which was founded in 1961 in San Miguel and the Bulacan Savings and Loan Association (BSLA) of

Malolos Malolos, officially the City of Malolos ( fil, Lungsod ng Malolos), is a 1st class Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, component city and capital of the Provinces of the Philippines, province of Bulacan, Philippines. According to th ...

.At least one these banks in

catered to entrepreneurs from the countryside who runs

(SMEs). The Tambunting Group acquired the BSLA in July 1971 took over the BDB in December 1972. The two banks merged in December 1975 with the BDB the surviving entity. The BDB was renamed the Planters Development Bank in 1976 and moved its headquarters to

Baliuag Baliwag or Baliuag, officially the City of Baliwag ( fil, Lungsod ng Baliwag), is a component city in the province of Bulacan, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 168,470 people. Baliuag was founded in 1732 by Augus ...

. It moved its headquarters to

Makati Makati ( ), officially the City of Makati ( fil, Lungsod ng Makati), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the National Capital Region of the Philippines. Makati is the financial center of the Philippines; it has the highest concentration ...

in 1981. It gradually grew by opening new branches and acquiring other local banks. In 2014, the bank became a subsidiary of

Henry Sy Henry Tan Chi Sieng Sy Sr. (; ; October 15, 1924 – January 19, 2019) was a Filipino businessman and investor. Born in Fujian, he moved with his family to the Philippines at age 12. While his family returned to China, he stayed behind and f ...

. Plantersbank's 78 branches at that time also became part of Chinabank. Plantersbank grew to be the largest private development bank and leading bank for SMEs in the Philippines with total assets of , total loan portfolio of , and deposits of as of June 30, 2013. In 2016, the bank was merged with China Bank Savings. The reorganization and retrenchment of employees caused a labor protest which was mediated by the

Department of Labor and Employment The Department of Labor and Employment ( fil, Kagawaran ng Paggawa at Empleyo}, commonly abbreviated as DOLE) is one of the executive departments of the Philippine government mandated to formulate policies, implement programs and services, an ...

References

{{Authority control Banks of the Philippines Companies based in Makati Banks established in 1961 Banks disestablished in 2016 2016 disestablishments in the Philippines