ONB eyes 2,000 POS

MANILA, Philippines - The Mindanao-based One Network Bank (ONB) is planning to deploy 2,000 Pera Agad cash points or point-of-sale (POS) in merchants, schools, utility companies, transport companies, credit coops, pawnshops and even in sari sari stores by end 2012.

Lat year, ONB deployed 23 POS units in select branches in Mindanao and Semirara in Antique, according to ONB president and chief executive officer Alex V. Buenaventura.

“The Pera Agad POS terminals will simplify personal and business transactions for the banking public as well as business located in all of Mindanao,” Buenaventura added.

The POS terminals will be interconnected through the MegaLink network, which in turn, will be interconnected to all the 6,000 units of other banks nationwide.

Complementing the deployment and activation of the POS terminals are the 102 automated teller machines (ATM) deployed within its branch or in offsite areas such as shopping malls. It likewise issued over 290,000 ATM cards.

Last month, ONB made corporate history when it acquired an Iloilo-based rural bank, its first acquisition outside of Mindanao.

It acquired the Rural Bank of San Enrique Inc. (RBSEI) last April 21, which did not require the release of a substantial amount of money since the owners of the Iloilo-based rural bank opted for shares of stock instead of cash.

Prior to the acquisition, ONB managed 82 branches. It will open five more branches in Mindanao as well as activate the six branches of the former RBSEI branches this month. It is likewise negotiating for an additional five branch license as a result of the acquisition.

 ONB, considered as the largest rural bank in the country, has a depositor base of 565,000, and an employee base of 1,206.

Last year, it reported a net income of P428 million or 37.62 percent better than the P311 million in 2010. Total resources reached P15.7 billion in the same period.

Commercial loans to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) grew 78 percent, or from P800 million to P1.4 billion last year.

Deposits amounted to P10.5 billion, with low cost deposits accounting for 64 percent of total.

Non-performing loan (NPL) ratio stands at five percent while the non-performing asset (NPA) ratio was recorded at four percent end December 2011.

The capital adequacy ratio (CAR) remains very healthy at 20 percent, among the highest in the country’s banking system.