Bank of Commerce (BankCom), the affiliate bank of San Miguel Corporation (SMC), is seeing a larger market potential for its “SIKAPPINOY Asenso” (Asenso) all-in-one remittance, savings, and investments platform for Filipinos in Japan.
The bank made this announcement following the release of the latest data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), which showed an increase in overall remittances from overseas Filipinos — including from Japan.
IMAGE CREDIT: https://www.bankcom.com.ph/
According to the BSP report, the Philippines’ total remittances from September YTD improved 2.8% to US$27.24 billion, from US$26.49 billion in the same period last year.
Japan ranked fourth overall among the largest source countries for the period, behind only the United States (USA), Singapore, and Saudi Arabia.
BankCom launched “Asenso” in Japan in August last year, in partnership with Speed Money Transfer Japan K.K. The project has since catered to thousands of customers in just over four months.
The program provides clients a way to send cash remittances to loved ones for pick-up at BankCom branches, or in any of its 16,000 agent partners nationwide.
Funds can also be remitted directly to customers’ other bank accounts, or to a wide array of e-wallet services that are available in the Philippines.
“Asenso” for OFWs
“Asenso”, which in Filipino means “prosperity,” “progress,” or “advancement,” also provides OFWs and their families access to practical business investments – in particular, over 200 franchising options in the Philippines through BankCom’s partner, U-Franchise.
Through “Asenso”, OFWs can reliably channel their hard-earned remittances towards building a franchise-type business for their beneficiaries.
BankCom President and CEO Michelangelo R. Aguilar touted the bank’s strong partnerships with established remittance service providers, as key to the program’s success.
“We recognize the vital role that our SIKAPPINOY partners play in establishing our presence in key OFW communities such as in Japan. We will collaborate with them to meet the evolving needs of our OFW customers and their beneficiaries, and expand their access to banking services,” Aguilar added.
BankCom posted a record net income of ₽2.0 billion for the period ended 30 September 2023, outperforming its full-year 2022 profit of ₽1.8 billion by 12%. The third quarter result is also 35% higher than the ₽1.49 billion net income in the same nine-month period last year.
This historically high performance translated to an ROE of 9.27%. Sustained growth in the bank’s core revenue streams, higher interest margins and growth in fee-based income (investment banking, credit card, trust, and trade finance) were the main drivers of its solid performance.
About BankCom
Bank of Commerce traces its origins to the Overseas Bank of Manila, established in Binondo, Manila in 1963. In December 2020, the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) granted the copyright license for “BankCom” as the Bank’s official short name.
An affiliate of San Miguel Corporation (SMC) and a listed universal bank provides a wide range of financial products and services: deposits, cash management/solutions, payments, lending, asset management, bancassurance, investment banking, foreign exchange and securities trading.
The bank currently has a network of 140 branches and is aiming to deploy more automated teller machines (ATMs) in addition to the 264 that it already has as of the end of September 2023.
