FILIPINOS are getting wealthier, Citibank says, as the country ranks the second fastest- growing segment of the international banking giant in terms of deposit volume.
Data obtained by the BusinessMirror showed a strong double-digit year-to-date growth in Citibank Philippines’s deposit volume expansion—the second strongest country performance in Citibank’s operations in Southeast Asia.
The Philippines is only topped by Citibank Thailand—whose deposit volume growth hit 15.24 percent in the first six months of the year. Citibank Philippines’s deposit volume growth hit 11.96 percent. This is followed by Citibank Hong Kong, and then by Citibank Singapore and Citibank Malaysia.
Citibank Philippines’ s11.96-percent growth is also almost twice the Asian deposit volume growth average of 6 percent for the first six months of the year.
Demographic factor
In an interview with the BusinessMirror, Citibank Philippines Consumer Banking Head & Country Business Manager Manoj Varma said among the major distinctions that give Citibank Philippines an edge over its counterparts in the region is the size of its young and working demographic.
“The Philippines has entered into that demographic sweet spot, right? The number of people from an age and income perspective in the work force is a very, very strong supporter of continued growth even for the next 15 to 20 years. So we are at the beginning of that demographic growth cycle. And that’s what we’re seeing,” Varma told the BusinessMirror.
The Citibank official also said Citibank Philippines’s deposit growth is not going to stop soon, and expressed optimism of further expansion in the medium to long term.
“There is so much more opportunity because still a lot are not in the formal banking sector, that will continue to increase. So that’s the reason we feel extremely optimistic in the next few years,” he said.
Citibank has approximately 200-million customer accounts worldwide and does business in more than 160 countries and jurisdictions. Citibank Philippines is the largest foreign commercial bank in the Philippines in terms of assets, revenues and profitability. It provides corporate banking, treasury, transactional banking and consumer banking services.
Image credits: Taylor Weidman/Bloomberg