The country’s seventh-largest private lender acknowledged making changes affecting specific positions but declined to disclose how many employees were losing their jobs or which departments were affected.
“Security Bank has made targeted organizational changes involving specific roles to better align resources with current priorities,” the bank said in a statement to InsiderPH on Tuesday.
The disclosure follows a Reddit thread titled “Security Bank Lay-offs,” which reported workforce reductions at the lender.
According to an industry insider familiar with the matter, Security Bank engaged Deloitte for a review ahead of the cuts, although the consulting firm's precise role remains unclear.
Leadership overhaul
Lee assumed leadership in January 2026, succeeding Sanjiv Vohra, who had led Security Bank since 2019 and overseen a sweeping modernization of its operations.
The bank had already announced a major leadership reshuffle on Sept. 29, including the departure of retail banking chief Rahul Rasal and deposits business head Jonathan Diokno.
The changes also reassigned senior executives across customer services, lending, financial markets, technology and operations, with Lee temporarily taking direct control of the retail banking business.
Growth loses momentum
The latest job cuts come against a backdrop of slowing business growth.
First-half net income rose 4 percent to P6.1 billion in 2026, compared with 8-percent growth in the same period last year, while revenue growth slowed to 11 percent from 23 percent.
The slowdown was even more pronounced in lending, with loan growth easing to just 1 percent from 16 percent a year earlier, pointing to a more cautious approach to expanding the bank's portfolio.
Security Bank nevertheless remained profitable, generating P34.9 billion in first-half revenues and reporting P1.19 trillion in total assets as of June.
The lender operates 395 branches nationwide and counts Japan's MUFG Bank as a major strategic partner with a 20-percent stake.
—Edited by Miguel R. Camus
