BPI Direct BanKo, the microfinance arm of Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI), and the Philippine Guarantee Corp. (Philguarantee) recently signed an agreement for the mobilization of P11.5-billion credit support for small firms and workers.

BPI Direct Banko and BPI will put in P5 billion each for MSMEs and P1.5 billion from BPI Direct Banko for small farmers and fisherfolks.

“We are pursuing the mission of BPI to build a better Philippines one family at a time. With this new arrangement, we can now cater to more Filipinos, in particular the farmers and fisherfolks that put food on our table,” BPI BanKo president Rodolfo Mabiasen Jr. said.

He said BanKo has served around 10,000 small-scale farmers and fisherfolks since 2016, and expressed optimism that this customer segment will grow with the help of its recently partnered agricultural technology firm Agrilever.

Agrilever said it helps BanKo lend to financially capable farmers as the app raises their production and sales by providing weather forecasts, analyses on soil health, water conditions and pests alerts.

The app also links farmers to merchants and matches the supply from farmers and the demand of markets.

BanKo is also set to support more micro enterprises in other industries, with a P5-billion fund from the Philguarantee.

Mabiasen said non-agriculture enterprises mostly make up BanKo’s total borrowers of over 350,000.

Top partner

BPI and BPI Direct BanKo also renewed their partnership with Philguarantee as the private lender aims to uplift the lives of more Filipinos through financial aid for their basic needs and entrepreneurial goals.

Philguarantee president and CEO Alberto Pascual shared BPI and its merger partner Robinsons Bank have become its top partner lending institution with P65 billion credit support.

Ayala-owned BPI, the surviving entity, is now completing the integration of resources of Gokongwei-owned Robinsons Bank.

Apart from the P6.5 billion credit to BanKo, the parent company BPI secured P60 billion for housing and P5 billion for small and medium enterprises or SMEs.

Mabiasen shared that the BanKo’s continued partnership with Philguarantee proves the resiliency of small enterprises, as 70 percent of its clients delayed payments during the pandemic.

“But as we recovered from the pandemic, we also saw the recovery of the families and communities of our clients,” he said.

“Philguarantee’s support through credit guarantees optimizes capital deployment of our partner banks, supports growth of the three vital sectors and promotes job creation,” Pascual said.

BPI senior vice president and head of business banking Dominique Ocliasa added the BPI Group also saw SME loans continue to grow.

“Our growth in SME loans is way ahead of the industry’s average. That’s been the trend for the last two years,” he said.