Bourse-bound BankCom lines up digital, IT upgrades

Conglomerate San Miguel Corp.’s (SMC) banking arm Bank of Commerce (BankCom) announced the upgrade of its digital and IT infrastructure to lure more clients as it rolled out its P3.4-billion initial public offering (IPO) on Wednesday.

“The banking sector is essential to our country’s postpandemic recovery, and we want Bank of Commerce to play a more significant role in San Miguel’s overall efforts to help boost our economy,” SMC president Ramon S. Ang said in a statement on Wednesday.

“We believe in the bank’s strong potential, that’s why we are investing to upgrade and enhance its capabilities to serve more clients,” he added.

BankCom said it would improve digital capabilities via its mobile banking and web platform called BankCom [Personal].

This would allow users to transfer funds to a mobile number or email address and build savings via its “E-Saver” function.

“Online card transactions, QR-based payments and integration with electronic payment service provider ECPay are also being lined up,” BankCom said.

The lender said it would also budget P1 billion to upgrade its core banking system and refresh its ATM fleet across the country. This included the installation of additional machines at “strategic off-site locations starting this year.”

“Digital banking is on the rise and will continue post-COVID as many people have experienced its convenience. By deciding early on to upgrade our digital assets, we are now in a position to reach out and offer more to our customers,” BankCom president and CEO Michelangelo R. Aguilar said in the same statement.

Meanwhile, BankCom said it was preparing other IT upgrades on segments involved in trade finance, loan management, risk management and cash management.

These areas were estimated to bring in transaction values exceeding P10 billion from corporate and manager’s check facilities alone, and more than P1.5 billion from direct and cross-border fund transfers.

“As we have seen exponential growth in the use of digital services in the last two years, we will continue to study emerging trends and adapt to our customers’ needs,” Aguilar said.

BankCom, which priced its IPO shares at P12 each, earlier announced the offer period would run from March 16 to March 22. “BNCOM” will make its PSE trading debut on March 31.