Philippines

For investors and corporations, there was no avoiding BDO Capital over the last 18 months. Name any significant deal or transaction in the Philippines, and odds are the wholly owned subsidiary of BDO Unibank was involved.

Metropolitan Bank & Trust Company, or Metrobank, is a firm to be reckoned with in the Philippines. Established in 1962, it is one of the nation’s foremost universal banks – and the winner this year of Asiamoney’s best domestic bank in the Philippines award.

The 31st annual Asiamoney Brokers Poll invited chief investment officers, fund managers and investment analysts to take part. Voters represented fund management houses, hedge fund & private equity firms, insurance companies and wealth management houses in Asia, Europe and North America.

Many Filipinos switched to digital channels during lockdown. Bankers think customers are unlikely to return to branches now that they have had a taste of what it is like to go cashless. That would be good for banks – and for financial inclusion.

There’s a team made up of staff from Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and the department of finance who call themselves ‘the Road to A’. They are tasked with completing a long journey for the sovereign credit rating: from BB- as recently as 2009, through BBB+ today, to achieving an A rating.

The competition for best CSR bank was fierce this year, given the obvious social impact of the coronavirus. Each of the banks in the Philippines has made a concerted effort to support its staff and community as the pandemic rages on, and all of them should be lauded for their work.

Small and medium-sized enterprises make up more than 99% of the Philippines’ registered businesses, but courting SMEs has not been easy for the country’s banks. A lack of transparent credit information can make banking these companies difficult.

The Covid-19 pandemic has driven home the need for inclusive and accessible digital banking. But one Philippine bank stood out in particular for its efforts in the digital sector, going above and beyond in providing for every customer. That bank is Rizal Commercial Banking Corp (RCBC).