THE RURAL BANK of Sta. Rosa (Laguna), Inc. saw its revenues surge by 432% to P66 million as of end-May from the end-2023 level after it was acquired by financial technology (fintech) firm Salmon Group Ltd. in January, its parent said on Wednesday.

“We are off to a strong start in building a robust financial institution by improving the bank’s products and services and enhancing our customer experience across both offline and online channels,” Salmon Co-Founder and Rural Bank of Sta. Rosa (Laguna) Chairman Raffy Montemayor said in a statement.

The bank’s loans jumped by 648% to P400 million at end-May from P54 million a year prior, Salmon said.

Meanwhile, on the funding side, deposits soared by 439% to P440 million as of May from P82 million at end-2023, it said.

This was driven by its “competitive” rates, such as its 8.88% interest rate per annum for time deposits exceeding P500,000 for a 12-month term, the fintech company added.

The bank used these deposits to acquire installment loans and cash loans from Sunprime Finance, Inc., its sister company that lends to underserved and underbanked Filipinos, it said.

The rural bank’s equity also surged by 1,075% year on year to P385 million as of June following a capital injection from Salmon.

The funding will allow Rural Bank of Sta. Rosa (Laguna) to invest in technology and people to prepare for its upcoming mobile app and debit card launch in the second half of the year, subject to regulatory approval, Salmon said.

The rural lender has also asked the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas for approval to raise its authorized capital to P1.2 billion for the expansion of its offerings of financial service, enhancement of its technology and branch infrastructure, and to support its long-term growth, it said.

“We are excited to see the bank rapidly becoming the center of the group’s business in the Philippines. We hope that with our upcoming mobile app and debit card launch, Salmon will vividly show just how different our approach is to providing customer experience. Built around daily needs on a slick and intuitive mobile platform, Salmon hopes to give a new sense of financial freedom and inspiration to millions of Filipinos,” Salmon Co-Founder and Rural Bank of Sta. Rosa (Laguna) Director Pavel Fedorov said.

The International Finance Corp. last month said it is investing $7 million (about P404 million) in Salmon to help fund the capital of Rural Bank of Sta. Rosa (Laguna).

Salmon was founded in July 2022 and uses artificial intelligence-enabled technology and a proprietary credit engine to offer consumer loans. — A.M.C. Sy

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