BPI targets to increase agency banking locations

BANK of the Philippine Islands (BPI) expects to reach 10,000 agency banking locations within the year, mainly driven by its partnership with Robinsons Retail Holdings, Inc.

“Actually, it’s about 8,000 now. But obviously, we’ll try to reach more. We have about 30 brand partners. The biggest brand partner is actually Robinsons Retail and all their stores,” BPI President and Chief Executive Officer Jose Teodoro K. Limcaoco told reporters on the sidelines on an event on Tuesday.

The bank also has brand partners outside of the National Capital Region, including Prince Hypermart in Cebu and Rodamel Drugstore in Tuguegarao City.

“We like to work with the brands primarily because they have the same level of trust… We just like the brands. Because for us, it’s not just about going to a partner store and just withdrawing or depositing. The partner store is able to also onboard you on a loan product,” Mr. Limcaoco said.

He added that the bank will soon add bills payment to its agency banking capabilities to complement the deposit and withdrawal services offered at present.

BPI is also looking to onboard more partners for direct debit facilities, he said, following its rollout of the same with Ayala Land, Inc. (ALI) last month, which allows property owners and tenants to settle recurring payments from any account from participating banks.

“Ayala Land is the first one. But we’ll see more and more people doing that… There is a challenge in adoption because many consumers want to control when their accounts get debited. So, it’s something that we need to educate the consumer about,” Mr. Limcaoco said.

The direct debit facility launched by ALI and BPI is an interoperable and multilateral auto-debit system, enabling automated debits across banks via a clearing house. This will allow them to settle recurring payments such as property amortizations, rent and lease payments, loan installments, insurance premiums, membership dues, and subscription-based services, even if the payors and billers do not have accounts within the same bank.

BPI’s net income grew by 7.4% to P66.62 billion in 2025.

Its shares closed at P102 apiece on Thursday, dropping by 20 centavos or 0.2% from Wednesday’s close. — A.M.C. Sy