BPI thrift unit bets big on online loans

Screengrab from https://www.bpiloans.com/

MANILA, Philippines—The country’s largest thrift bank, BPI Family Bank sees over half of total consumer loan applications being generated online in a couple of years, with the launch of a revamped online platform designed as a one-stop shop for consumers seeking car, housing, personal or business loans.

Barely a year after opening an online loan application platform, about 10 percent of total loan applications are now generated online, BPI Family vice president Ramon Noel Altamirano said in a briefing last week.

“This is a channel that we’re really excited about because people are into it,” Altamirano said, adding that in the years ahead, at least 50 percent of businesses could be generated online.

As part of its strategy, BPI Family has revamped its online platform www.bpiloans.com to make it more user-friendly for consumers trying to secure loans for the purchase of big-ticket items such as a car or a house. The site also has a loan calculator that can assess if one’s resources are enough to make these purchases.

At the same time, the bank also unveiled a new slogan: “Make the best happen.”

“It’s a change in mindset,” BPI Family Bank president Teodoro Jose Limcaoco said. “When we say ‘make the best happen,’ we’re really making a call to our customers, employees, stakeholders that we must change the way we think and how we run our lives.”

In 2013, Bank of the Philippine Islands as a group grew its lending portfolio by 21 percent. It expects to grow its total loan book by another 20 percent this year. BPI Family hopes to track this pace of growth this year, said BPI senior vice president and head of retail mortgage Jocelyn Sta. Ana.

For those looking to buy a house, Sta. Ana said the section on housing loans had a list of over 100,000 properties nationwide—house and lot, condominium or foreclosed properties—that consumers could choose from.

“Filipinos are normally very shy and embarrassed to ask people or to go to branches, so a website is the best means for them to ask instead of face to face,” Sta. Ana said, adding that for people abroad, this would be the best tool without incurring expensive telephone bills.

For the “KaNegosyo” business loans, the website has a “best list” of 74 brands available for franchising that BPI Family recommends especially to people who are going into business for the first time.

“These are strong brands that we have accredited. We’ve looked at these businesses for financial soundness,” said Cedoy Roces, BPI Family vice president and head of the KaNegosyo loans division.

“We will provide financing that’s tailor-fit for the investment,” she said.

For auto loans, the website has a gallery of vehicle brands and the corresponding prices.—Doris C. Dumlao