Bank of Commerce, the financial arm of diversified conglomerate San Miguel Corp., said Wednesday its remittance business grew 30 percent year-on-year in the first quarter after holding successful marketing campaigns in the Middle East.
The bank said in a disclosure to the stock exchange higher linkages with remittance partners overseas along with marketing campaigns helped shore up remittance flows.
A remittance promotion from Dec. 1, 2022 to Feb. 25, 2023 allowed overseas Filipino workers the chance to win P10,000 and P100,000 of online shopping vouchers from San Miguel Mart when they remit money from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the Philippines. Three draws were held, with the first coinciding with the December yuletide holidays. The other two were held on Jan. 30 and March 1.
A total of 33 winners were awarded with online shopping vouchers. Meanwhile, transactions conducted through the Mastercard transaction services as of March 2023 surged by more than five times their figure during the same period last year.
“We are delighted to see such a substantial increase in our OFW remittance transactions. It is a testament to the bank’s commitment to providing efficient and convenient services to our valued customers locally and internationally. We will continue to innovate and collaborate with our partners to meet the evolving needs of our OFW clients,” said Bank of Commerce president and chief executive Michelangelo Aguilar.
The bank’s net profit in the first quarter of 2023 reached P713 million, nearly doubling the P360 million in the same period last year and higher than the 2019 full-year pre-pandemic performance.
This was achieved through the expansion in its loan portfolio, higher margin and growing fee income due to factors such as the surge in remittance transactions.