PSBank gets triple-A credit rating from Philratings

PSBank head office

The Metrobank group’s thrift bank arm Philippine Savings Bank has obtained a triple-A credit rating with a stable outlook from local debt watchdog Philippine Rating Services Corp. (Philratings).

As the highest credit grade by Philratings, this “PRS Aaa” rating signifies that the company has a very strong capacity to meet its financial commitments relative to that of other Philippine corporates. A stable outlook means that such rating is likely to remain unchanged in the next 12 months.

“We are honored to be recognized once again with PhilRating’s highest credit rating. Not only is it a testament to our creditworthiness and stability as a bank, but is also a welcome sign that we are managing the business well, and maintaining our resilience to weather the challenges for our people and customers,” PSBank president Jose Vicente Alde said in a press statement.

The rating is seen to reflect PSBank’s strong market position, highly-experienced management team, as well as sound capitalization and aggressive provisioning, which are seen to temper the impact of the pandemic on its loan portfolio.

PhilRatings also cited PSBank’s experienced management team as a strong pillar of support for the bank. It particularly noted Alde’s strong background in information technology, treasury, and bank operations which is seen to help the bank thrive especially now that digital banking is seen to continue to increase in importance.

Based on data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, PSBank ranked first among thrift banks based on capital of P33.6 billion. It was also the country’s second largest thrift bank in terms of assets (P239.3 billion), deposits (P183.7 billion), and loans and receivables, net (P161.8 billion), as of end-March 2020. 

In the consumer loan market, PSBank is a strong player in the auto loans segment. The bank accounted for 18 percent of the thrift bank sector’s portfolio for 2019, an improvement from its 16.9 percent market share in 2018.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and the ensuing lockdowns, PSBank has laid the groundwork and achieved notable progress in the implementation of its digital transformation.

“This exemplary credit rating further motivates us to serve our customers better, using the right channels, and coupled with relevant products and services so they continue to benefit from our simple lang, maasahan (simple and reliable) banking promise,” added Alde. 

PSBank has extended its waiver of fees for PesoNet and InstaPay transactions made via the PSBank Mobile App until further notice. This move aims to further encourage digitally-inclined and new account holders to maximize the use of digital payments.