PNB delivers 22% income growth
Philippine National Bank (PNB) will take advantage of its investments in technology to further boost its profitability after delivering a strong first semester.
The banking arm of the Lucio Tan Group on Monday said robust lending had resulted in a 22-percent surge in its earnings in the January to June period to P12.5 billion.
At the same time, its net interest income climbed by 7 percent to P25.8 billion as loans and investment securities grew by 5 percent and 11 percent, respectively.
“The double-digit growth in profitability is a clear indication that the various strategic initiatives that were put in place are gaining traction,” PNB president and CEO Edwin Bautista said.
“We are excited to unlock new revenue streams to boost our net income as we continue to explore the use of technology, including data science and AI (artificial intelligence), in our businesses,” Bautista added.
PNB recently partnered with Japan’s Digital Wallet Corp. to improve its support for overseas Filipino workers through mobile remittance.
Under their partnership, PNB will combine its “established global banking network” with Digital Wallet’s “innovative digital remittance technology” to capture and serve more clients.
Apart from this, PNB also invested in enhancing the security features of PNB RCI Web Remit and PNB Singapore mobile app, both online remittance platforms.
PNB RCI Web Remit now has electronic know-your-customer onboarding with additional security features, including facial matching and liveness checking or authentication of biometric samples.
The PNB Singapore application, on the other hand, was interfaced with PNB’s enterprise fraud management system to minimize fake transactions made through the app.
Bautista said they would continue to “forge strategic alliances with partners that will add value to our products and services.”
Meanwhile, trading and foreign exchange gains also contributed to PNB’s profit surge, as these ballooned by 64 percent to P1.4 billion.
Net service fees and commission income jumped by 24 percent to P2.8 billion on higher returns from deposits, credit cards and the bancassurance business.
As of end-June, PNB assets reached P1.29 trillion.
