RCBC to build up Bankard credit business

Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. of the Yuchengco group has committed to grow its credit card business under the RCBC Bankard trademark, aiming to hit 750,000 cards-in-force (CIF) this year.

The commitment was made after the publicly listed shell company Bankard Inc. was sold to a new investor. The sale would allow RCBC to comply with the stringent capital adequacy ratio requirements of the Basel 3 framework.

“There’s no effect on cardholders. For them it will be seamless, as if nothing happened,” RCBC executive vice president and head of strategic initiatives John Thomas Deveras said in a briefing Friday.

The credit card receivables under the brand RCBC Bankard amounting to around P12 billion have long been consolidated into the balance sheet of parent bank RCBC, Deveras said. Only the credit card servicing operations are under the company Bankard Inc., which was sold to a new investor group represented by the trust unit of Philippine Business Bank. With the sale of Bankard Inc., the 300 employees, licenses and credit card operations have also been transferred to parent bank RCBC.

RCBC Bankard has a market share of about 6-7 percent in terms of CIF, and about 5-6 percent in terms of receivables. It is the sixth or seventh largest credit card issuer in the country.