Salmon Bank secures P400-M fresh capital

Salmon Bank is strengthening its balance sheet with P400 million in fresh capital from its parent company.

The digital-focused rural lender secured additional funds from Salmon Group Ltd., raising its total equity to P1.6 billion, the company said in a statement.

The group is a financial technology firm backed by global investors, including International Finance Corp., the sovereign wealth fund and asset managers out of Abu Dhabi and American venture capital firms.

The infusion, expected to be completed by the end of March 2026, would bring Salmon Group’s total investment in the bank to P1.3 billion.

The move is set to lift the bank’s core equity tier 1 ratio to 23.1 percent from 16.1 percent—well above the BSP’s minimum requirement of 6 percent.

Likewise with its total tier 1 ratio to 29.2 percent from 22.8 percent, above the 7.5 percent regulatory floor.

These ratios measure a bank’s ability to absorb losses without breaching regulatory standards or disrupting operations. For Salmon, the improvements reflect its strengthened capacity to support continued asset growth.

“Both on [an] absolute and relative basis, this positions Salmon Bank as one of the best capitalized tech-centric challenger banks in the country,” the company said.

“The investment also reinforces Salmon Bank’s ability to scale responsibly whilst maintaining strong liquidity and capital adequacy, as it expands access to financial services in the Philippines,” it added.

In 2025, the bank reported that its client base more than doubled year-on-year driven by its deposit products that offer interest as high as 8 percent.

See Also

Banks’ bad loans ease to over 5-yr low

Meanwhile, the share of bad loans to its total lending portfolio stood at 2.1 percent, well below industry levels.

The capital infusion coincided with Salmon’s plan to apply for a license to operate as a thrift bank.

Raffy Montemayor, cofounder of Salmon, earlier said the bank was eyeing to increase its capital to P2 billion.

“[The year] 2025 was a breakout year for Salmon Bank. We scaled well, with strong governance and high capital discipline,” Montemayor said.

“This additional funding enables us to continue that momentum in 2026—as we grow responsibly and deliver game-changing services that elevate the way Filipinos bank,” he added.