BANK of the Philippine Islands (BPI) expects all Robinsons Bank Corp. (RBC) branches to be rebranded by the end of the year following their merger.

“We’ve integrated a couple of branches already. It went really well. So, you’ll see those branches transform into BPI branches, but the rest of the branches, we should target and finish by this year,” BPI Chief Executive Officer Jose Teodoro K. Limcaoco told reporters on the sidelines of a central bank event on Friday.

As of June 2024, BPI had 865 branches while RBC had 157.

The merger between BPI and RBC took effect on Jan. 1, 2024, with BPI as the surviving entity.

Robinsons Bank President and Chief Executive Officer Elfren Antonio S. Sarte earlier said that RBC will be fully integrated into BPI’s systems in 12-18 months.

He added that RBC has started cross-selling its consumer loan products to BPI customers, which is expected to contribute to the latter’s profits.

One of the RBC products now being offered to BPI’s clients is teachers’ loans from Legazpi Savings Bank, a subsidiary of RBC that is now also owned by BPI following the merger.

BPI’s net income grew by 29.4% year on year to P17.4 billion in the third quarter of 2024 on the back of higher revenues.

This brought its nine-month net profit to a record P48 billion, 24.3% higher year on year.

BPI’s shares rose by P1 or 0.85% to end at P119 apiece on Wednesday. — A.M.C. Sy