Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) sees growth and opportunities after the bank’s shareholders approved the merger with Gokongwei-led Robinsons Bank Corp. (RBC) merger.

In a special stockholders meeting, BPI execs said with the merger they expect the bank’s revenue to increase by about 7% and net income by 5%-6%.

“The proposed merger with Robinsons Bank Corp. will unlock various synergies across several products and service platforms and expand the customer and deposit base of both banks,” Jose Teodoro Limcaoco, president and CEO of BPI, said in a statement.

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BPI also said that the deal, which is still subject to regulatory approvals, aims to tap the Filipino-Chinese market segment, which it admitted has been a significant advantage of its competitors.

“Apart from growing BPI’s client and deposit base, and expanding synergies, the merger will increase shareholder value by providing BPI opportunities to collaborate across the Gokongwei Group’s ecosystem, which includes market-leading businesses in food manufacturing, air transportation, real estate, and property development, and multi-format retail companies,” Limcaoco said. 

RBC has a 20% stake at neobank or digital bank GoTyme, which BPI “will inherit but we leave the direction of the management (to them),” Limcaoco said.

With RBC’s consumer loans posting a 30% compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) over the past five years, the bank’s consumer loans account for 42% of its loan mix, while BPI’s comprise 20%. 

“As the relatively high mix of consumer loans has been a key driver for net income growth, it is aligned with BPI’s aspirations of increasing its consumer loans to 30% of its total loan book,” BPI said.