MANILA, Philippines — State-run Land Bank of the Philippines (Landbank) is looking at an almost 20 percent jump in its bottomline this year to P35 billion as it pursues expansion in its digital transactions.
Landbank said it targets to increase its net income by at least 16 percent to P35 billion from the record P30.1 billion in 2022.
The bank said this would be done by optimizing resources, maximizing yields from earning assets, generating return from non-earning assets, and expanding trust banking and bancassurance business.
Last year, Landbank exceeded its full-year income target and breached the P30-billion mark for the first time.
In particular, Landbank targets to grow its digital transactions by 60 percent in terms of both volume and value, driven by an expansion of its retail customer base.
It also plans to onboard more local government units as merchants in eGov Pay to support the government’s programs on digital collections and disbursements.
EGov Pay is an online facility for the electronic filing and payment of mandatory contributions and loan payments to various government agencies such as the Social Security System, Philippine Health Insurance Corp. and Pag-IBIG Fund.
Landbank also aims to bring more users in its Link.BizPortal, another electronic payment facility that allows clients to pay for products and services via the Internet from both the public and private sectors.
The bank targets to grow the number of government and private merchants in the Link.BizPortal to over 1,600 merchants by the end of the year.
Further, the state-run bank plans to establish touchpoints in all 1,634 LGUs to solidify its position as the biggest development partner for local and countryside development.
Its expansion will be finished in 2024 with the establishment of a Landbank touchpoint in every municipality via physical branches, automated teller machines, agent banking partners, cash deposit machines, and point-of-sale facilities.
As the biggest lender to the agriculture sector, Landbank likewise plans to increase the number of small farmers and fishers it has assisted to 3.6 million this year.
Landbank president and CEO Cecilia Borromeo said the bank would take on a more prominent role in nation building as it leverages on innovation, digitalization and strategic partnerships.