Urban depositors seek answers

The scene was reminiscent of the days that followed the closure of Monte de Piedad Savings and Loan Association, Orient Commercial Bank and Prime Savings Bank.

Fear and anxiety was everywhere. When these three banks folded up for various reasons such as mismanagement, large DOSRI loans, and liquidity problems, many depositors nearly loss their minds and their lives just to recover their money.

This time, depositors of Urban Bank are undergoing the same anguish after Urban Bank decided to close due to heavy withdrawals.

"The decision stemmed from the heavy cash withdrawals suffered by the bank over the past four weeks due to a jittery market. The liquidity problem is also attributed to the negative reaction of the bank's clientele and depositors on the reported downgrading of the bank into a thrift bank despite assurances that the plan was to convert the bank into a holding company that will focus on information technology and mortgage banking," Urban Bank said in a press statement.

A handful of Urban depositors, who failed to withdrew their money before the bank holiday trooped to the Urban Bank head office yesterday to seek answers on how they could get their money back.

"We want to know what will happen to my money," said Ruben Rubio who placed his seven-digit retirement money to Urban six years ago.

A teary-eyed Urban Bank founder and chairman Arsenio Bartolome assured depositors the bank is solvent and said he got a call from RCBC informing him that they are also interested to buy the bank. "I got a call from Cesar Rubio (executive vice president of RCBC) saying that RCBC would be interested in looking at the bank," Bartolome said.

Urban Bank was in talks with Banco de Oro for a possible merger before it declared a bank holiday.

Urban Bank was given at least 10 days to send their letter of intent to rehabilitate the bank and subsequently submit their rehabilitation plan to the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (PDIC).