Equitable PCI Bank (PSE: EPCI) was one of the largest banks in the Philippines, being the third-largest bank in terms of assets. It is the result of the merger of Equitable Banking Corporation and Philippine Commercial International Bank, or PCI Bank. It was known for a wide range of services from savings to insurance and, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Equitable CardNetwork, was the largest Philippine credit card issuer. The bank merged with Banco de Oro Universal Bank in early 2007, and is now branded as "BDO" as its new identity as part of the new Banco de Oro Unibank, Inc.
History
Equitable PCI Bank started as two separate banks, Equitable Banking Corporation and the Philippine Commercial International Bank (PCIBank).
On June 17, 1950, Equitable Banking Corporation was founded by Go Kim Pah as the first commercial bank in the Philippines licensed by the newly-formed Central Bank of the Philippines (now Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas). Other commercial banks like Bank of the Philippine Islands were formed and licensed during the Spanish or American regimes. However, it was not until 1955 that Equitable opened its first branch in Divisoria.
In 1958, Equitable established the only direct telex service between the Philippines and Japan at the time, with initial messages exchanged between Equitable and Chase Manhattan Bank of Tokyo.
On August 15, 1963, Equitable established its first branch outside the Philippines in Hong Kong, the first time a Philippine bank opened a branch in the city. Two years later, on March 26, 1965, Equitable opened its first provincial branch in Cebu City. By 1972, Equitable emerged as the country's premier bank.
In 1977, the bank received its foreign currency license from the BSP and in 1980, issued its first credit cards under the VISA (credit card)and Visa brand. In 1987, Equitable became a universal bank and was appointed the clearing house of the Makati Stock Exchange, now the Philippine Stock Exchange.
In 1989, Equitable turned its credit card department into a wholly owned subsidiary, Equitable CardNetwork. With three other banks, namely Bank of the Philippine Islands, Far East Bank and Trust Company, Philippine National Bank, and United Coconut Planters Bank, it formed Megalink, the Philippines' largest ATM network. PCI Bank, on the other hand, joined eight other banks to form BancNet on July 17, 1990.
On July 27, 1996, Equitable Savings Bank was established as Equitable's savings bank arm. Equitable listed on the Philippine Stock Exchange on April 3, 1997, and in 1999, the merger plan between the smaller Equitable Banking Corporation and the larger PCI Bank was approved, forming today's Equitable PCI Bank.
On August 5, 2005, the SM Group of Companies and Banco de Oro Universal Bank announced that they have purchased a 24.76% stake of Equitable PCI from the Go family, the family that founded the bank, along with a 10% stake in Equitable CardNetwork. Subsequent acquisitions by Banco de Oro enabled it to gain a 34% share in the bank.
On January 6, 2006, Banco de Oro Universal Bank submitted a merger offer to the bank - with Banco de Oro as the surviving entity. Under the proposed offer, Banco de Oro will swap 1.6 of its shares for every 1 share of Equitable-PCI. As a second option, Banco de Oro also offered to base the swap ratio on the book values of both banks to be assessed by an independent accounting firm using International Accounting Standards. With the success of this merger, Banco de Oro has been projected to become the second largest bank with assets of P613 billion, just next to current industry leader, Metropolitan Bank and Trust Company with assets of more than P641.5 billion. Before this merger, Bank of the Philippine Islands was the second largest bank in the Philippines with P582 billion in assets.
Ownership
Competition
Equitable PCI Bank's main competitors included Metrobank, Bank of the Philippine Islands, Land Bank of the Philippines, and Philippine National Bank.
See also
External links
