Government Banks in the Philippines

Updated July 2020

Here are the 6 government banks in the Philippines:

Four are universal banks and two are thrift banks.

Land Bank of the Philippines (Landbank)
LandBank Plaza Bldg.
1598 M. H. Del Pilar cor. Dr. J. Quintos St.
Malate, Manila 1004
– No. of Offices: 370
– Founded in 1963
– Became a universal bank in 1973
 
Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP)
Headquarters:
Gil Puyat Avenue corner Makati Avenue
Makati City
– No. of Offices: 113
– Started as Agricultural and Industrial Bank in 1939
– Renamed Development Bank of the Philippines in 1958
– Became a universal bank in 1995

Al-Amanah Islamic Investment Bank of the Philippines
Headquarters:
PHIDCO A. Building
Veterans Avenue, Zamboanga City

Executive Office:
4th Floor Development Bank of the Philippines
Gil Puyat Avenue corner Makati Avenue
Makati City 1200
No. of Offices: 9
– Started in 1973 as Philippine Amanah Bank
– Renamed Al-Amanah Islamic Investment Bank of the Philippines in 1990
– Only bank authorized to operate under Islamic banking concepts
– Owned and controlled by the Development Bank of the Philippines

Overseas Filipino Bank, A Savings Bank of LandBank (OFBank)
          (formerly Philippine Postal Savings Bank)
Main Office:
Postbank Center, Liwasang Bonifacio, 1000 Manila

– Phone: 527-0040 / 527-3377
– Trunkline: 527-0053
– Number of offices: 31
– wholly-owned thrift bank subsidiary of LandBank

– was ceremonially launched by Pres. Duterte on January 18, 2018
– was created in September 2017 when Pres. Rodrigo Duterte issued Executive Order No. 44 approving the acquisition of the Philippine Postal Savings Bank by Landbank and conversion into Overseas Filipino Bank.

United Coconut Planters Bank (UCPB)
– became a universal bank in 1981
UCPB Corporate Offices, 7907 Makati Avenue
Makati City 0728
No. of Offices: 188
Trunkline: (632) 811-9000 / local 1000 to 1002
Fax: (632) 811-9062
homacadaeg@ucpb.com
Website: http://www.ucpb.com

UCPB Savings Bank
18/F UCPB Bldg., Makati Avenue, Makati City 0728
No. of Offices: 64
811-9080
Fax: 811-9586
ljracela@ucpbsavings.com
Website: http://www.ucpb.com

Does the government really own UCPB?

Yes.
In July 2020, the Department of Finance announced that the government increased its ownership of UCPB to 97%. It did this by converting into special preferred shares the 12-billion-peso loan that the PDIC granted to UCPB in 2003, which was later converted into capital notes in 2009.

Prior to this announcement, the government owned 73.9%% of UCPB. After years of court battles regarding UCPB ownership, the Supreme Court ruled with finality in 2013 that the Philippine government owns 72.2% of UCPB.

According to UCPB’s 2018 annual report, it became a Government-Owned and Controlled Corporation (GOCC) in March 2018.  It’s also a state depository bank.

Initially, the government did not plan to operate UCPB as a government bank, despite the huge amounts of money it has poured into it over the years to save it. It has been working with the Department of Finance on its privatization. But in August 2019, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III announced his plan of exploring ways to recoup the billions of pesos that the government has spent maintaining UCPB over the years. And it most probably not through privatization.

UCPB was originally First United Bank (FUB). It was renamed United Coconut Planters Bank (UCPB) in 1975 after 72.2% of it was purchased by a government agency, the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA), using coconut levy funds. These funds were taxes collected from coconut farmers from 1972 to 1982.

Isn’t Union Bank one of the government banks in the Philippines?

No. But the government-owned corporation SSS owns 13.99% of Union Bank.

What is Union Bank’s relationship with the SSS?
SSS is one of the 3 biggest shareholders of Union Bank. SSS, a government owned and controlled corporation (GOCC), owns  13.99% of Union Bank, as of June 2018.

Is Philippine National Bank (PNB) a Government Bank?

The Philippine National Bank (PNB) was created as a government bank in 1916, but it started getting privatized in 1989 when its stocks were listed in the stock exchange.

In 1996, PNB became a private bank when the government’s ownership was reduced to 46%.

In 1999, a group led by Lucio Tan acquired 35% of the bank and increased its ownership to 69.32% in 2000. It further increased its ownership to 77.43% in 2005.

In 2007, the government sold all its remaining shares in PNB to the public.

List of Universal Banks in the Philippines