Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) is riding the digital wave in the banking industry by redesigning 26 branches into phygital outlets as it aims to digitalize a range of banking services.

“We’re rationalizing branches which means we’re not necessarily decreasing the number of branches but enhancing the customer experience in the branches through phygital,” BPI’s head of consumer banking Ginbee Go said.

She explained phygital branches feature machine kiosks for processing basic transactions, and meeting pods and virtual conference rooms for discussing loans and investments with clients.

Through its various channels, BPI said it was able to register a 25.8 percent growth to P15.3 billion in net income for the first quarter from a year ago.

Meanwhile, operating costs jumped by 19.6 percent to P18 billion mainly due to manpower and technological enhancements, the bank added.

“The consumer group remains fairly resilient. Going forward, I’m quite optimistic,” BPI president and chief executive officer TG Limcaoco said.

78% institutional

“If you look at where we were last year in March, 78 percent of our book was institutional. Today, that’s down to 74 percent,” he shared.

BPI grew its loans by over 11 percent in the first quarter as demand from consumer and entrepreneur clients surged.

Personal loans grew by 147.4 percent, while microfinance jumped by 57.2 percent.

Ayala-owned BPI and Gokongwei-owned Robinsons Bank merged last January, with the former as the surviving entity.

BPI said it expects to provide more teacher’s loans as it fully integrates Robinsons Bank’s subsidiary Legazpi Savings Bank which has 28 branches located in the provinces.

“Our vision for the teachers is to uplift their lives, to give them a better future ahead. What we’re giving them on the table is a suite of savings, protection and loan products,” Maria Josephine Ocampo, BPI’s head of mass retail products, said.

She added the bank has expanded microfinance branches from 300 to 348.

Microfinancing may range from P5,000 to P300,000, which benefits small businesses like sari-sari stores.

According to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, microfinance firms have provided loans worth over P400 billion.