BPI named Most Sustainable Bank in RP

CEBU, Philippines - The New Economy, a thought leadership journal that focused on sustainable business, conferred the Most Sustainable Bank in the Philippines 2009 award to the banking arm of the Ayala conglomerate.

The Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) is the first bank in the Philippines to publish a sustainability report that covered the bank’s sustainability performance in four strategic themes. These are total customer experience, reduction of environmental footprints, market expansion and employee engagement, according to a press release.

The London-based New Economy’s readership-base include 90,000 institutional investors, chief executive officers of multi-national companies, and leading government think tanks. It also has a large global newsstand distribution.

A sustainable bank, also known as ethical, social, alternative or civic bank is a bank concerned with the social and environmental impacts of its investment and loans. These banks are part of a larger societal movement toward more social and environmental responsibility in the financial sector. This movement includes ethical investment, socially responsible investment, and corporate social responsibility.

The awardees were selected for their outstanding success at one or more of the following: raising or committing capital to invest in innovative enterprises; generating substantial revenues in this challenging market; adopted transparency for sustainability practices, good working conditions and their implications; innovative product development, eco conservation; social responsible practice; micro finance; emerging markets best practice; and implementation of projects, reporting practices, consistent sustainable index rating and other national, regional and international initiatives.

BPI has the largest market capitalization among banks in the Philippines and has the widest distribution network in the country with more than 800 branches and over 1,500 automated teller machines (ATMs) nationwide. – Jessica B. Natad