Credit growth fuels RCBC’s P9-B profit

Rizal Commercial Banking Corp., or RCBC, posted a net income of P9 billion in the first nine months due to surges in consumer loans, credit card and digital transactions.

RCBC raked in record-high revenues amounting to P36 billion as its core businesses expanded, the bank's disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange revealed Tuesday.

Consumer loans jumped by 23 percent as of end-September this year from the level in the same period last year. As a result, total loans grew by 12 percent.

Meanwhile, credit cards approved this year increased by 51 percent, surpassing the bank's one million mark.

This expanded its credit card portfolio by 49 percent from January to September.

Loans, credit cards lead growth

RCBC attributed the growth in loan and credit card businesses to cross selling of products and continuous digital transformation.

"The bank commits to deliver relevant and disruptive solutions. These innovative and high-impact AI (artificial intelligence) and digital use cases were key to the bank's sustained growth despite challenging external headwinds," RCBC president and chief executive officer Eugene Acevedo said.

As a result, the gross volume of digital transactions surged by 42 percent in the first nine months.

Meanwhile, income from service fees rose by 17 percent.

Deposits climbed by 13 percent as current accounts and savings accounts grew by 12 percent.

These brought total assets to P1.2 trillion, up by 12 percent year-on-year.

RCBC boosted its capital adequacy ratio to 17.1 percent and common equity tier 1 to 14.4 percent, following a capital infusion worth P27 billion from Japan's Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation.