DEVELOPMENT BANK of the Philippines (DBP) has already exceeded its target of broadening its deposit base last year as it looks to include more Filipinos into the formal financial system.
In an interview, DBP President and Chief Executive Officer Cecilia C. Borromeo said the state-owned bank has already exceeded its goal of capturing one million depositors in 2018.
“Actually, we already exceeded our (target of) one million base (by the) end of [last] year,” Ms. Borromeo told BusinessWorld on the sidelines of the Annual Reception for the Banking Community last month.
The lender met its goal of additional one million depositors ahead of its 2022 target.
In a 2017 interview, Ms. Borromeo said DBP is eyeing to get an additional one million depositors by the end of the Duterte administration, which can be achieved by capturing at least six new depositors per day.
“As a development financial institution, if we could get one million new depositors, who have never had any experience dealing with a bank, that would be a feat,” she said.
According to the central bank’s latest financial inclusion survey, approximately 52.8 million or 77.4% of Filipinos remain unbanked, as 60% of the respondents cited that they do not have enough money to maintain a bank account.
The aggressive plan of DBP to capture more depositors is part of its bid to boost its grow its retail banking segment to 30% from the 25% as of 2017.
For this year, DBP said it is “bullish” about 2019 as it sees its loan portfolio sustaining its growth.
20% GROWTH IN LOANS
“We’re looking to expand our loan portfolio by another 20%. We will continue to support more infrastructure projects because that’s the mandate of DBP,” Ms. Borromeo added.
As of end-September last year, the bank’s loan book stood at P250.3 billion, accounting for 98% of its target of P256.6 billion by the year-end.
The infrastructure and logistics sector constituted the largest share in DBP’s loan book with P104.5 billion.
According to central bank data, DBP was the eighth-largest universal bank in the country in asset terms as of the end of third quarter with P632.6 billion. — Karl Angelo N. Vidal

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