Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) has extended its products to more Filipinos through a new partnership with CVM Pawnshop and Money Changer Corp.

As a BPI Partner Store, CVM Pawnshop can accept applications for the bank’s products and deposits to BPI. With over 200 branches nationwide, the pawnshop can also facilitate withdrawals of BPI account holders for zero transaction fee.

“This partnership with CVM Pawnshop is an exciting step forward in providing our customers with more touchpoints to manage their financial needs,” BPI head of Agency Banking Rally Jereza said.

“Clients can go to any CVM Pawnshop branch instead of paying fees at another bank’s ATM or traveling to another branch,” CVM Pawnshop president Paul Cancio said.

Network expanded

In April last year, BPI president and chief executive officer TG Limcaoco said the bank’s agency banking network expanded to 5,000 retail stores, including Robinsons-owned stores, Ayala malls, Uncle John’s, Southstar drugstores and Seaoil gas stations.

“We’re working with retail stores where we’ll put our technology and hopefully customers will walk into these stores and be onboarded into the BPI’s system,” he said.

In its disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, BPI said it grew deposits by 14 percent to P2.6 trillion last year, while operating costs also jumped by 21 percent to P83.8 billion after investing funds in manpower and technology. Still, the bank’s cost-to-income improved by 71 basis points to 49.3 percent.