Landbank gets ISO certifications for quality management systems

State-owned Land Bank of the Philippines (Landbank) has secured certifications for quality management systems (QMS) from the Government Board of the Certification International UK Ltd. 

The bank secured ISO 9011:2000 certifications for its trust operations, asset management services and wholesale commercial lending operations after passing a two-stage audit conducted by the Certification International Philippines Inc. (CIP).

CIP managing director Renato Navarete said Landbank had met the stringent requirements of ISO standards as he lauded management for  its use of the ISO 9001:2000 as an instrument for enhancing its competitiveness and for meeting its customers’ needs and expectations.  

Landbank president and chief executive officer Gilda E. Pico said that the institutionalization of a QMS certifiable to ISO 9001:2000 is in line with Landbank’s thrust of attaining business excellence.   

“It is anchored on the quality management principle of striving for a customer-focused organization,” Pico said yesterday.  Pico said the certification makes Landbank one of the few in the banking industry who have aligned its operations with the ISO standard and the first bank to get ISO certification specifically for its trust banking group and wholesale lending department. 

The trust banking group offers a wide array of investment and asset management services while the wholesale lending department takes charge of the management, marketing and implementation of foreign-funded wholesale lending programs to participating financial institutions. 

The certifications issued are valid for three years from Sept. 13, 2007 to Sept. 12, 2010, during which Landbank would be subject to annual surveillance audit by the CIP.  

Landbank has been stepping up efforts to improve its operations. It had recently reported that its net income rose to P2.15 billion in the first half of 2007, the highest-ever net income attained by the bank in one semester.  

The amount is 30 percent higher than the P1.65 billion net income reached in the same period last year. 

As of June 2007, Landbank’s assets reached P367.8 billion or 17 percent higher from P315.7 billion last year. Capital also increased by 40 percent to P35.8 billion from P25.5 billion while deposits grew by 13 percent to P278.1 billion from P245.4 billion in June 2006.