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Tag: RCBC

  • RCBC to Launch Digital Bank for Rural Filipinos

    RCBC to Launch Digital Bank for Rural Filipinos

    The launch is part of RCBC’s plan to reach a bigger retail market base and serve low-income segments.

    The Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC) is setting up a rural bank that will join the digital banking race in the Philippines.

    Diskartech is expected to launch in February and will be run by Lito Villanueva, RCBC executive vice president, and chief inno­vation and inclusion officer, RCBC president Eugene Acevedo said in a filing with the Philippines Stock Exchange on Tuesday, the publication reported.

    This development is a critical component of RCBC’s overall digital blueprint in reaching the grassroots and bring in millions of unbanked and underserved Filipinos. 2020 will definitely be an exciting year for all of us, Acevedo said.

    Under its digital banking roadmap, RCBC plans to add 1 million new customers this year. A virtual bank would allow it to better cater to low-income segments, which include accounts with a daily average balance of 800-1,000 Philippines pesos ($15.72-$19.65).

    RCBC’s announcement follows Singapore-based Tonik Financial’s statement earlier in January that it will debut a pure-play digital bank in the Philippines in 2020.

    Tonik, which received a banking license from the central monetary authority, said the banking market in the Philippines is ripe for disruption, as the country is a world leader in internet and social media use, but 70 percent of adults are unbanked.

    Only two digital banks currently operate in the Philippines, operated by Malaysia-based financial giant CIMB Bank and Dutch lender ING Bank, which both debuted in 2019.

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  • Philippines charges bankers for ignoring cyberheist

    Philippines charges bankers for ignoring cyberheist

    The Philippines has filed charges against five officials of RCBC bank and a former treasurer who “wilfully ignored” suspicious activity that led to tens of millions of dollars vanishing after a heist on Bangladesh’s central bank.

    Unknown cybercriminals tried to steal nearly $1 billion from the Bangladesh Bank in February in what was one of the biggest bank heists ever.

    They succeeded in transferring some $81 million via an account at the New York Federal Reserve to four accounts in fake names at a branch of Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. in Manila. Most of the cash was quickly withdrawn and laundered through multiple channels.

    In a 97-page complaint to the justice ministry, the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) said that former RCBC Treasurer Raul Tan, three retail banking officials and two workers at the branch where cash was withdrawn were guilty of money laundering because they should have noticed something was wrong and intervened immediately.

    Only about $15 million has been recovered and returned to Bangladesh, with a further $2.7 million frozen. The rest of the funds changed hands several times and vanished in the Philippines’ casino industry.

    No arrests have been made despite investigations by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, Interpol, Bangladesh police and authorities in the Philippines.

    Tan resigned as the bank’s treasurer in April.

    The AMLC complaint, filed on Nov. 18, covers three retail banking workers and two customer relations officers at the its Jupiter branch in Makati City. The complaint was based on evidence gathered from the bank.

    “Tan was in a position to order enhanced due diligence based on the red flags,” it said.

    “Tan could have convened the anti-money laundering committee to act on these red flags,” the AMLC said, adding Tan “wilfully ignored them and failed to conduct thorough investigation,” as required by law and the bank’s regulations.

    Tan’s actions showed he had “knowledge that the funds transacted represented the proceeds of an unlawful activity,” it said.

    RCBC in a statement said its own probe had found no official from the head office involved in the transaction, which was initiated and carried out by the Jupiter branch.

    “We welcome the charges as an opportunity to conclusively prove that our executives acted properly and had no knowledge or participation in any money laundering,” CEO and President Gil Buenaventura said.

    One longtime RCBC client, casino owner and agent Kim Wong, had admitted during a Philippine Senate inquiry that he received millions of the loot from two Chinese gamblers but did not know it was stolen. He denies involvement in the heist and has returned $15 million of around $35 million he said he received.

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