RIZAL Commercial Banking Corp. sees the cuts in policy rates boosting lending.

RIZAL COMMERCIAL Banking Corp. (RCBC) expects the cumulative policy rate cuts by the central bank to boost loan demand.

“That will result in interest rates easing, particularly the lending rates. That will now attract more business customers. They will be encouraged to resort to more borrowings for their consumer financing,” Rommel S. Latinazo, RCBC Consumer Lending Group head, said in a briefing on Thursday.

Mr. Latinazo said RCBC’s consumer lending book grew close to 14% in 2018.

“So expect more traffic because of banks supporting the auto industry. And then of course, we’d like to continue supporting our countrymen in terms of the need for shelter for their home needs. With the easing of rates, demand should further grow,” he added.

RCBC’s consumer loan book is currently at P90 billion, according to Mr. Latinazo. This is against the bank’s lending portfolio of P480 billion.

The official said RCBC is betting on the consumer sector to boost its lending business noting that the bank has consistently seen double-digit growth in the segment.

“The intention is to sustain our double-digit growth in terms of consumer lending. Consumer lending together with SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) lending will be the pillars of growth for the bank moving forward,” he said.

Mr. Latinazo said RCBC is looking to utilize technologies such as data science, online loan applications, and credit scoring to attract more customers and to ensure efficiency in their credit processing.

“We’re targeting to launch it (online loan applications) once we get approval from regulatory bodies by first quarter of next year,” said Emmanuel K. Valdez, RCBC’s deposit products and promotions division head.

Aside from this, RCBC has also rolled out car and home loan products that come with insurance coverage for the duration of the loan.

RCBC shares lost 15 centavos or 0.57% to close at P26 each on Thursday. — LWTN

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