BPI refurbishing branches, putting up new ones

Inside BPI Ayala Insular branch

Southeast Asia’s oldest lender, Bank of the Philippine Islands, will refurbish more of its branches, rather than build new ones, in the next few years to improve customer experience, address overcrowding issues and further gain market share in an increasingly competitive banking environment.

“What we focus on, which is different from our competition, is we’ve been refurbishing quite a few branches. To us, the footprint is very important but our branches are very productive relative to what other banks do. They are highly automated, so what we’re really trying to tackle now is the feel of the branch,” BPI head of retail banking Joseph Albert Gotuaco.

In a briefing during the opening of BPI’s new “flagship” branch, which featured a relatively vast space of 680 square meters at Insular Life building in Makati, Gotuaco said BPI was trying to create a space where customers could have a less crowded and better experience.

BPI presently has 841 branches all over the country serving more than 7.9 million clients. It expects to add nine more branches this year and 17 new branches in 2018.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas earlier gave the bank permission to open 50 to 60 new branches.

“We’ll use up all licenses pretty soon, between this year and next year, but refresh rate is going to be faster than new build. So you’re going to see a lot of newer branches for BPI as you go around the country,” Gotuaco said.

BPI’s Ayala Insular Life branch offers expansive and quiet space amidst the congestion of the business district, and features specialized and in-demand services and amenities such as lounges for preferred customers, safety deposit boxes, and trusted advice corners where customers can engage with their BPI relationship managers. The lobby also showcases BPI’s latest electronic channels: ATM, cash accept machine (CAM), and online banking.

This branch design will soon be cascaded in several branches nationwide. Within Makati alone, some three or four similar branches will be rolled out.

“We are continually enhancing our customers’ banking experience and developing innovative products and services that cater to their needs,” BPI president and chief executive officer Cezar Consing. “It is not only about expanding our branch footprint, but also about offering what our customers need, and being present where our customers need us to be.”

“It’s fair to say that in certain parts of the country, you’d see abnormally sized branches to accommodate a much more broader client base,” Gotuaco said, adding that such flagship branches are designed with not just the retail clients in mind but also the corporate and small and medium enterprise clients as well.

Beyond the aesthetics, Gotuaco said BPI—which handles about 25,000 transactions per second—was also continuously addressing security issues and enhancing its suite of products.

For the retail business, he said the strategy was not just to create the right space but to attend to basic needs, whether it was for saving, investing, spending or protecting.

Joey Gotuaco and Cezar Consing with clients