The total assets of the Land Bank of the Philippines (LANDBANK) breached the P2 trillion mark in 2019, setting a new record for the state financial institution that has continued to expand the access of the agriculture sector to affordable credit while posting high-income growth.

A report to Finance Secretary and LANDBANK chairman Carlos Dominguez III showed that the bank’s total assets amounted to P2.033 trillion in 2019, up by 8.38 percent from the previous year’s P1.876 trillion.

“This new LANDBANK record was propelled by deposits amounting to P1.78 trillion, which recorded an uptick of 7.68 percent from P 1.66 trillion in 2018,” LANDBANK President and CEO Cecilia Borromeo said in her report.

Borromeo said the Bank’s net income also grew by 19.6 percent to P18.51 billion in 2019 from P15.48 billion in 2018.

“This translates into a return on equity of 13.19 percent, which is above the industry average of 10.38 percent as of September 2019,” she said.

In 2019, LANDBANK’s total capital posted a 13.2 percent increase to P148.99 billion, from the P131.62 billion reported in 2018. “LANDBANK’s CET 1 Ratio is 12.74 percent. The BSP (Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas) requirement is 11 percent,” said Borromeo, referring to the Bank’s capital in relation to its risk-weighted assets.

LANDBANK’s gross loan portfolio grew by 2.82 percent to P891.77 billion from P867.29 billion in 2018. Net investments likewise rose by 12.53 percent to P694.86 billion last year from P617.47 billion in the previous year.

In terms of network expansion, LANDBANK has 409 physical branches across the country, and a total of 2,195 automated teller machines (ATMs), of which 238 were installed in 2019. It has 46 provincial lending centers, of which two were opened in 2019 in the provinces of Lanao del Norte and Quirino.

Dominguez said that in contrast to the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP), which is the state’s wholesale bank, LANDBANK is the government’s retail bank, which is why it is on the right track in opening more branches nationwide to expand financial access to more Filipinos.

“You are the ones which should open branches in every street corner. And hopefully, sometime within the next 20 years, our overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) will finally get on ground and use this as their branch,” Dominguez told Borromeo.

To help realize this goal, Borromeo noted that LANDBANK has been one of the most aggressive when it comes to pushing the digital platform.

“In fact, it is the only big bank that has added feature in the Mobile Banking App that allows faster fund transfer to any individual LANDBANK account enrolled in I-Access or through Instapay via QR Code. As of now, 597 transactions were recorded amounting to P1.9M since its launch in November 2019,” Borromeo said.

LANDBANK’s web-based Digital On-Boarding System (DOBS) allows existing and prospective clients to fill-up digital account opening forms prior to proceeding to the Branch for the account opening process. A total of 598,191 accounts were opened with LANDBANK through DOBS in 2019.

On its support to the agriculture sector, Borromeo reported anew that the LANDBANK has exceeded its target of extending P231.25 billion-worth of loans to the farm and fisheries sector for 2019, with P236.31 billion released as of December 2019, representing a 102.19-percent accomplishment.

The bank was able to assist a total of 1,032,982 farmers and fisherfolk in 2019, exceeding its one-million target for the year.

Borromeo said the provinces of Maguindanao, Palawan, Ilocos Norte, Abra and Nueva Vizcaya recorded significant increases in lending to small farmers and fisherfolk.

On top of its regular lending programs that released a cumulative P4.16 billion in 2019, LandBank also opened new credit facilities for the agriculture sector through its Sulong Saka program, the Accessible Funds for Delivery to Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries (AFFORD-ARBs) Lending Program, Sustainable Aquaculture Lending Program, Green House Farming System and the Palay Alay sa Magsasaka ng Lalawigan Program (Palay sa Lalawigan).

To encourage rural borrowings, LANDBANK simplified its submission of documentary requirements and promissory notes, and reduced interest rates to farmers to a fixed 5 percent per annum, Borromeo said.

On social protection, LANDBANK served 4.36 million beneficiaries under the Conditional Cash Transfer Program (Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program or 4Ps). It also released last year Unconditional Cash Transfers (UCTs) to 5.16 million households and issued cash cards to 110,434 jeepney operators under the Pantawid Pasada program.

Starting December last year, the LANDBANK provided Rice Farmer Financial Assistance (RFFA) to an initial 1,000 small farmers.

As selling agent of the recently issued Premyo or Prize Bonds, LANDBANK was able to process 8,013 transactions, the highest with a 35.75 percent share that amounted to P1.275 billion.

Its Link.Biz Portal was widely used during the issuance of the Retail Treasury Bonds (RTBs) last March and the Premyo Bonds last December.

Link.Biz is also used by hundreds of government agencies such as the Land Transportation Office (LTO) and the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) in collecting payments. In 2019, 1.5 million transactions amounting to P4.6 billion were processed through Link.Biz for 700 enrolled government agencies.

Starting this year, LANDBANK will be the conduit of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) in releasing stipends to 400,000 scholars of public and private colleges and universities nationwide.

Borromeo said that for this year, LANDBANK is targeting to double the number of farmers it assists to 2 million by end-2020 and increase its loans to the agriculture sector by 15 percent to P265 billion.

LANDBANK also plans to establish 10 Agri-Hubs in 10 palay-producing areas, open 15 additional branches and 8 lending centers nationwide, deploy 2 pilot mobile branches and acquire 10 mobile Automated Teller Machines (ATMs).

Moreover, Borromeo said the bank will upgrade its information technology (IT) infrastructure to support its digital banking initiatives in 2020, and is targeting to provide cash cards this year to all 10 million beneficiaries under the 4Ps and UCT programs.

It also aims to improve its communication strategies to enable it to inform more farmers about its easy-to-pay, low-interest credit programs, and to strengthen partnerships with other agencies to more effectively carry out its role in implementing the government’s social protection programs.

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