Type Subsidiary Products Financial Services Motto Your dream, our focus | Industry Finance and Insurance Headquarters Butuan, Philippines Parent organization EastWest Bank | |
Number of locations 63 stores (as of 3Q-2016)
12 extension offices (EO)
18 other banking offices (OBO) Key people Jonathan T. Gotianun, Chairman
Antonio C. Moncupa, Jr.
Elpidio F. Masbad III, President and CEO Net income Php 634 million (22%) (2015) Founded 1975, Nasipit, Philippines | ||
EastWest Rural Bank, Inc. is a subsidiary and the rural banking arm of East West Banking Corporation. It was formerly known as Green Bank (or the Rural Green Bank of Caraga), was a Philippine rural bank based in Butuan City and also acquired since 2013 by EastWest Unibank alongside FinMan Bank, a rural bank based in Pasig City.
Prior to its acquisition it was the largest bank in the Caraga region in terms of assets, and it had 46 branches. It was also one of three rural banks to be affiliated with the Philippine interbank network BancNet since 2006.
History
Green Bank was incorporated with the Filipino Securities and Exchange Commission as the Rural Bank of Nasipit on June 20, 1974. The bank commenced actual operations on April 5, 1975, originally to serve the municipality of Nasipit, Agusan del Norte.
The bank took advantage of a government rediscounting program called Masagana 99, with the intention of helping poor farmers gain access to credit. However, in the 1980s, with the plunge of the Philippine economy into recession and the assassination of Benigno Aquino, Jr., Green Bank suffered a very high non-performing loan ratio due to the inability of its farmer-debtors to pay off their Masagana 99 loans. For the next few years, the bank's financial standing gradually deteriorated.
In 1988 the Central bank of the Philippines, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas issued Circular No. 1126 in 1988, designed to help recapitalize and revitalize distressed rural banks. In the case of Green Bank, it had arrears with the Bangko Sentral amounting to some fifteen million pesos, requiring it to recapitalize to cope with capital deficiency. Initially, stockholders refused, although some stockholders eventually agreed to aid the bank's recapitalization.
In 1989, the bank's board of directors appointed Rufa C. Susan to the position of manager, helping bring the bank back to profitability. Green Bank's capital was increased from two million pesos to twenty million pesos in 1992. This was later increased to sixty million pesos and further on to five hundred million pesos.
The bank merged with the Rural Bank of Alegria in 2000, becoming the largest rural bank in the Caraga region. It joined BancNet in 2006, being one of three banks that joined the interbank network.
The bank followed the Grameen Bank experimentation with conversion of borrowers from joint liability loans, to individual liability loans, with no drop in repayments.
EastWest Rural Bank or EWRB (formerly FinMan Bank, Inc.) consolidates, through an asset acquisition, effective November 1, 2013 the rural banking business of the two rural banks that East West earlier acquired, namely Green Bank, Inc. and FinMan Bank, Inc. FinMan Bank is a 16-year-old rural bank based in Pasig City and engaged in extending credit to farmers, tenants, and rural enterprises. East West injected a total of P520 million in fresh capital into EWRB subsequent to the regulatory approval effective May 21, 2013 on the latter’s increase in authorized capital stock from P80 million to P1 billion.
On October 31, 2013, EastWest acquired the good assets of Green Bank, Inc. (also known as the Rural Green Bank of Caraga), the largest rural bank in the Caraga Region in terms of assets. Based in Butuan City, Agusan del Norte, Green Bank has been serving the needs of mostly farmers, government and private employees, barangay officials, pensioners and small-scale businessmen. Through Green Bank’s strong branch network in the Visayas and Mindanao, EastWest is able to gain entry into the microfinance business.
Before the asset acquisition, Green Bank, Inc. has been known as a multi-awarded trailblazer in the area of housing microfinance. It was one of the first participating banks under the Microenterprise Access to Banking Services (MABS), a program designed to accelerate national economic transformation by encouraging Philippine rural banks to significantly expand the financial services they offer to microentrepreneurs and low-income households in the countryside. Green Bank was also recognized as among the first to use the services of an independent credit ratings agency to boost its loan quality. Backed by the strong track record of the entities behind it, EastWest Rural Bank will be able to cater to the underserved segments of the market specifically in the provincial areas and provide wider access to innovative products and delivery channels. It offers deposits and loans, including DepEd Salary Loan, Business Loan and SSS Pension Loan. As of 3Q-2016, EastWest Rural Bank had a total network of sixty three (63) stores, twelve (12) extension offices and eighteen (18) other banking offices, concentrated mostly in Mindanao, Visayas and in the key cities of Luzon.
In 2013, East West Banking Corporation acquired Green Bank to expand its presence in Mindanao and increase is rural lending business. Approval was given for the acquisition in December 2013.