The story
Colonial period
BPI was established on August 1, 1851, by Margarita Roxas de Ayala and her husband Antonio de Ayala, as the "El Banco Español Filipino de Isabel II" (lit. 'The Spanish-Filipino Bank of Isabel II'), named after the Queen of Spain, Isabella II, the daughter of King Ferdinand VII. It was the first government bank in the Philippines and the third Philippine bank during the Spanish era. The first managing directors of Banco Español-Filipino were Jose Maria Tuason and Fernando Aguirre. They took turns serving as managing director every year. One of the founders and primary shareholders at that time was José Joaquín de Ynchausti of Ynchausti y Cía, a prominent Philippine multi-national conglomerate who also founded Tanduay Distillery and built the Puente Colgante. José was the managing director of the bank from 1868 to 1873 and 1876 to 1884.
The royal decree establishing the Banco Español-Filipino also gave it the power to print Philippine currency, the first time the Philippine peso was printed in the country; before 1851, a multitude of currencies were used, most notably the Mexican peso. They were originally called Philippine peso fuerte (PF), or "strong pesos". First printed on May 1, 1852, they were redeemable at face value for gold or silver Mexican coins just to circulate the first Philippine currency. The first deposit with the bank was also done on that day by a man named Fulgencio Barrera with silver and gold. Three days later, a Chinese man named Tadian became the first borrowing client of the bank after the bank discounted to him an initial and foremost promissory note amounting to ten thousand pesos fuertes.
On September 3, 1869, following a revolution which overthrew Isabella II, the name was changed to Banco Español-Filipino. In January 1892, the bank moved from the Royal Custom House in Intramuros to the new business district of Binondo after it found out that Intramuros was becoming "economically inactive". It moved to 4 Plaza Cervantes corner Juan Luna Street which was at that time a prime property owned by the Dominican friars.
The first branch of Banco Español-Filipino outside Manila was opened in Iloilo City on March 15, 1897. However, the idea to set up branches outside Manila was formulated as far back as the 1850s, with the first branch planned to be opened in Bacolor, the capital of Pampanga at the time. However, by then, Iloilo and other provinces in Panay had become more productive than Pampanga in the sugar industry, hence the move to open the first branch in Iloilo.
Following the cession of the Philippines to the United States with the signing of the 1898 Treaty of Paris, the bank changed from a Spanish institution to a Philippine one. On January 1, 1912, a decision by the shareholders of Banco Español-Filipino changed the name to the present Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) or Banco de las Islas Filipinas in Spanish. The basis for the name change was Act No. 1790, passed on October 12, 1907, which permitted the bank to change its name. The bank was also fully privatised during the American colonial period.
Following World War II, BPI was actively involved in the post-war reconstruction of the Philippines. In 1949, with the establishment of the Central Bank of the Philippines (now the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas), BPI completely lost the right to issue Philippine pesos, a right it had since the Spanish colonial era and during the American colonial period – up until 1934.
(At the general annual meeting of stockholders held on Feb. 13, 1917, the following ticket was unanimously elected: President, Jno S. Hord; vice-president, E. Sendres; directors, E. Barrera, Edilberto Calixto, Alfredo Chicote, Luis Llanso, P.A. Meyer, Maximino Paterno, Felix Roxas, Jas. J. Rafferty, Benito Siy Cong Bieng, P.C. Whitaker)
Contemporary history
On December 31, 1969, Ayala Corporation, which had been affiliated with BPI since its establishment in 1851, became the dominant shareholder of BPI, and eventually made BPI into the flagship of Ayala's financial entities. The New York Times, in an article around 15 years later, described the event as hostile takeover type of snatching of control from the Archbishop of Manila against the backdrop of a pious predominantly catholic nation.
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Starting in the 1970s, BPI has been involved with many mergers and acquisitions. The first merger occurred in 1974 with BPI's acquisition of the People's Bank and Trust Company. Major notable acquisitions include Commercial Bank and Trust Company in 1981, CityTrust Banking Corporation in 1996, Far East Bank and Trust Company in 2000, Prudential Bank in 2005, BPI's subsidiary BPI Family Savings Bank in early-2022 and Robinsons Bank in early-2024.
In 1982, BPI became a universal bank and inaugurated its new headquarters building at the intersection of Ayala Avenue and Paseo de Roxas in the Ayala-developed Makati Central Business District. In 2000, it became the Philippines' first bank assurance firm, being the first Philippine bank to offer insurance services after acquiring the insurance companies of the Ayala Corporation, the parent company of BPI. Within that year, BPI also founded the BPI Direct Savings Bank, an Internet bank.
On February 14, 1986, BPI established its own interbank network, Expressnet.
In October 2015, BPI launched their "Make the Best Things Happen" campaign.
In the second quarter of 2019, BPI began constructing its new headquarters in Makati, replacing the old headquarters building on its place. BPI has tapped Skidmore, Owings & Merrill for its design. It relocated its head offices from the old building to nearby locations, including the Insular Life Building, Ayala North Exchange, Makati Stock Exchange building, and BPI Buendia Center in Makati, while other offices moved to Vertis North in Quezon City and in Alabang, Muntinlupa. Its head offices were subsequently relocated to the adjacent Insular Life Building, Ayala North Exchange, Makati Stock Exchange building, and BPI Buendia Center in Makati, while other offices moved to Vertis North in Quezon City and to Alabang, Muntinlupa.
BPI launched its new logo in August 2019 and its Do More tagline in August 2023. In June 2023, BPI completed the transfer of its various head office units to Ayala Triangle Gardens Tower 2, reducing its headquarters to two locations: the tower and the BPI Buendia Center.
2017 system glitch
On the morning of June 7, 2017, a data processing glitch affected BPI clients making their account balances incorrect. Some clients had either a negative balance or an increased amount of money in their account. The error was fixed in the evening, but the next day, June 8, BPI suspended electronic services because incorrect balances occurred again. The services were restored once more on the evening of the same day upon fixing the defect.
From Wikipedia’s article on Bank of the Philippine Islands, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5