The Rural Bank of Sta. Rosa (Laguna) Inc. submitted a request to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) for an authorized capital increase to P1.2 billion as it aims to expand its financial offerings, upgrade technology and strengthen its branch network.
The bank has existing authorized capital stock of P20 million.
“We are off to a strong start in building a robust financial institution by improving the Bank’s products and services and enhancing our customer experience across both offline and online channels,” Rural Bank of Sta. Rosa chairman and Salmon’s co-founder Raffy Montemayor said.
Salmon, which acquired Rural Bank of Sta. Rosa in January 2024, injected fresh capital into the bank to invest in technology and in people to prepare for its upcoming mobile app and debit card launch, which is slated for the second half of 2024, subject to the BSP approval.
The capital injection led to the bank’s equity climbing to P385 million in June, a 1,075-percent increase year-on-year.
“We are excited to see the Bank rapidly becoming the center of the group’s business in the Philippines,” bank director and Salmon’s co-founder Pavel Fedorov said.
“We hope that with our upcoming mobile app and debit card launch, Salmon will vividly show just how different our approach is to providing customer experience. Built around daily needs on a slick and intuitive mobile platform, Salmon hopes to give a new sense of financial freedom and inspiration to millions of Filipinos,” he said.
The bank’s total deposits soared by 439 percent to P440 million in May 2024, up from P82 million in the same period last year.
The growth in deposits was driven by the competitive time deposit rates, including its 8.88-percent interest rate p.a. for time deposits exceeding P500,000 for a 12-month term.
It deployed these new deposits to acquire installment loans and cash loans from Sunprime Finance Inc., its sister company that successfully lends to underserved and underbanked Filipinos.
The bank said its total loan portfolio increased 648 percent to P400 million in May 2024 from P54 million in May 2023. This led to the bank’s year-to-date revenue in May 2024 totaling P66 million, surpassing its full-year 2023 revenue by 432 percent.
