The lender is increasing the pace of expansion to open at least 72 new branches to reach 400 locations next year, the bank’s president and CEO Sanjiv Vohra said on Friday.
“I don't think we are at a stage where you can be fully digital. And we believe that you need to have customer access points and customer engagements across all channels, whether it is the branch or digital,” Vohra told reporters in an interview on Friday.
Growing population centers outside Metro Manila and the hybrid work-from-home setup is partly driving such moves, said Security Bank chief financial officer Eduardo Olbes.
“People are living and working in new places,” Olbes said.
“We have to make sure that where our target customer is, we’ve got a physical presence to plant our flag and address it,” he said.
Security Bank wants to access faster growth to achieve its goal of becoming top 3 bank in the country in terms of return on equity over the next three to five years, Vohra said.
It also aims to reach this goal by increasing its presence in more profitable affluent retail segment and micro, small and medium-sized enterprises.
A wider physical branch network—alongside enhanced digital offerings and a new app—will help the lender increase its customer base, currently at about 1.7 million clients.
Miguel R. Camus has been a reporter covering various domestic business topics since 2009.
