Maybank opens 56th branch in Cebu

CEBU, Philippines - Maybank Philippines Inc. (MPI) officially kicked off its nationwide expansion program outlined for this year as it formally opened its 56th branch in downtown Cebu area yesterday.

The Cebu Downtown Branch is the first among the additional 25 branches that Maybank will be opening for 2013. 

Eric Montelibano, head for corporate affairs, said that the strategic location of the newly-opened branch allows the bank to extend its reach to existing customers and potential clients.

The newly-opened branch is 220-square meter outlet situated at Plaridel Street, Cebu City. It is also the third branch in Cebu along with branches located in Subangdaku, Mandaue City and Cebu Business Park.

MPI is part of the Maybank Group, a regional bank with presence in the ten ASEAN countries.  It has a total asset of over $160 billion and is considered to be the fourth largest bank in Southeast Asia. 

Montelibano added that Cebu is considered to be an important market for MPI given the city’s high business activity and economic progress.

Amid the stiff competition in the banking industry, he cited that MPI boasts of its better and customer-friendly service in the form of low-level teller counters, warm banking atmosphere and direct client dealership.

He said that as a regional bank, MPI is capable to cater to clients who have businesses in the 10 ASEAN countries and help them deal with their transactions overseas.

Montelibano further noted that MPI is aggressively working on its expansion strategies to further penetrate the market and increase its presence in the Philippines.

He revealed that they will be opening the fourth branch in Cebu by next month along with six more branches in the country within July and two more branches on August. MPI plans to increase the number of its branches to 200 by 2018 nationwide.

MPI is a full-service commercial bank offering a wide array of financial solutions geared towards the upscale consumer market and selected segments of top-tier corporations.

Its range of services encompasses peso and dollar deposit accounts, consumer, corporate and SME loans, auto and mortgage accounts, cash management services, electronic banking, remittance services, trust and fiduciary accounts, trade finance, and treasury and foreign exchange

Maybank Group is a regional financial services leader in Malaysia with an international network of over 2,200 offices in 20 countries globally. It has over 46,000 employees serving more than 22 million customers worldwide.

In 2012, Maybank was hailed as the new entrant and first Malaysian bank to be included in the Bloomberg Markets magazine. It ranked 13th in the list of the world’s 20 strongest banks. /JOB (FREEMAN)