ABN Amro to turn over 19 branches to Robinsons Savings Bank

ABN Amro Savings Bank will turn over today its 19 branches to Robinson Savings Bank, a unit of JG Summit.

Robinsons bought last March ABN’s branches, the licenses to operate them, and their deposit portfolio to expand its reach, and asset and customer base. Robinsons also absorbed most of ABN’s branch personnel and some head office support staff.

Aside from the 19 branches, Robinsons has seven existing branches of its own, and is set to open five more between now and early next year.

The acquisition makes Robinsons Bank the seventh-largest thrift bank with assets of over P7 billion.

Robinsons handles the domestic banking requirements of the JG Summit group which is into the airline, telecommunications, petrochemical, food, textile, and property development and retailing, and shopping mall businesses.

The acquired branches are those in Alabang, Baguio, Binondo, Cagayan de Oro, Cebu, Dagupan, Davao, Katipunan, Libis, Makati-Gamboa, Makati-Shell, Naga, Ortigas, Quezon City-Morato, San Fernando, Pampanga, San Pablo, Laguna, TA-Greenhills, TA-Makati, and TA-Tutuban.

Robinsons Bank has existing branches in Edsa Galleria in Ortigas, Ermita Midtown, Robinsons Place in Manila, Imus in Cavite, Novaliches, Bacolod and Pasig.

The five that are scheduled to be opened shortly are in Binondo, Caloocan, Makati, Cebu and Iloilo.

"Integrating the systems of the two banks had been smooth," said Victor Laynes, Robinsons Bank vice president for information technology, "and we expect the new branches and ATMs to immediately be online and running partly because ABN’s system is almost similar to our Silverlake Integrated Banking System."

To ensure continued customer support for ABN Amro’s former deposit clients, Robinsons Bank deployed at least one personnel familiar with the Robinsons system to ABN Amro branches.

Robinsons Bank registered a net income of P74 million last year, for an industry-high return on equity of almost 12 percent. Its asset quality is among the highest – defined by a 2.5-percent non-performing loan portfolio – one of the industry’s lowest, if not the lowest.