Ayala-owned Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) on Thursday said it has already received approval from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to sell back shares in GoTyme Bank, a digital bank of the Gokongwei-led JG Summit Group and Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, BPI said it received BSP’s approval on 9 October for its sale of 752,056,290 common shares to GoTyme Bank in exchange for cash amounting to P902.47 million and removal of co-ownership in the digital bank.

The BSP signed the document for the approval of the shares’ sale on 3 October.

The common shares represented 15 percent of the total outstanding shares of GoTyme Bank.

In April, BPI approved the Deeds of Absolute Sale of Shares to GoTyme Bank at P1.20 per share.

“The sale is intended to address any potential conflict of interest created by the significant overlap in and similarity of product offerings of GoTyme Bank and BPI. After the sale, BPI will have no shareholdings in GoTyme Bank,” the Ayala-owned bank said.

Merger done by January

BPI and Robinsons Bank, a commercial bank by the Gokongweis, officially merged in January to maximize their resources in delivering better products and services, including digital and app-based products, to customers.

BPI executives aim to attract 50 million clients over the next several years with the help of artificial intelligence-based products.

For one, BPI Wealth, the assets management arm of the Ayala-led bank, already drew over P1 billion in assets under management in the first half of the year through its digital platform e-Invest on its mobile banking app.

Through its Vybe app, BPI also offers clients rewards for their various purchases using e-money.

Meanwhile, GoTyme has attracted over 3.7 million customers or more than 250,000 people each month since it started operating in 2022.