TOKYO, Japan — According to Nikkei, Japan’s Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Firm would invest approximately 10 billion yen ($90 million) in Rizal Commercial Banking Corp., a Philippines-based commercial banking group. It wants to increase its presence in Asia and grow faster in areas like digital banking. SMFG’s primary subsidiary bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp., wants to buy about 5% of RCBC’s outstanding shares. The cash will be used by RCBC to invest in digitalizing its banking operations. RCBC was founded in 1960 as a conglomerate’s banking arm. With net assets of over $15.2 billion, it is the Philippines’ sixth largest private bank, and corporate lending accounts for roughly half of its revenue. Following the coronavirus outbreak, the company concentrates on lending to small and midsize businesses, which has witnessed an upsurge in demand. Individualized services have also grown in popularity in recent years. Diskartech, RCBC’s digital banking app, will be released in 2020. During the three months leading up to March, its usage increased by 60% compared to the same period a year ago, as more people sought to pay and send remittances via cellphones due to the epidemic. According to the World Bank, only 32% of Filipinos have bank accounts in 2017, compared to 85% in Malaysia, 81 percent in Thailand, and 48 percent in Indonesia. RCBC is rapidly growing its customer base by offering financial services to those who do not have bank accounts and are accessible via cellphones. In the meantime, SMFG is growing its footprint in Asia. In April, the Japanese banking group announced plans to invest up to 150 billion yen in FE Credit, Vietnam’s largest nonbank lender, for a 49 percent stake. The company also hopes to generate commercial synergies in Asia by leveraging the digital banking capabilities of its Indonesian subsidiary, Bank BTPN. Continue reading
