INTRODUCTION

In the field of banking institutions, few embody the resilience, adaptability, and legacy as brightly as
the Philippine National Bank (PNB). Established on July 22, 1916, the PNB has been an integral part of the
economic narrative of the Philippines, evolving alongside the nation’s growth and progress. Over the
decades, it has weathered economic storms, embraced innovation, and emerged as a stalwart of the
Philippine financial sector.

At its core, the Philippine National Bank stands as a testament to the country’s spirit of resilience.
From its inception during the American colonial period to its present-day stature as one of the largest banks
in the Philippines, PNB has demonstrated unwavering commitment to serving the needs of its customers
and contributing to the nation’s economic development.

It was on February 4, 1916, that under Public Act 2612 the establishment of the PNB to replace the
small P1 million government-owned Agricultural Bank. It first head office was the Masonic Template along
Escotta, the then “Wall Street of the Philippines”. The first president was H. Parker Willis, an American.

PNB was considered as “The First Universal Bank in the country”. Upon its establishment, Filipinos
found a bank of their own. To grant short and long-term loans to agriculture and industry was authorized to
PNB. Loans with interest between 8% to 10% per annum has been available for farmers. Moreover, PNB
was also authorized to receive deposits, open foreign credits and rediscount bills. Issuance of circulating
notes was also given as a special power.

On July 24, 1916, it has established its first branch in Iloilo.

In 1917, PNB has entered the field of international banking as it opened its New York Branch. Five
more domestic branches and another overseas branch in Shanghai, China were established the following
year.

In January 1942, it ceased its operations but reopened the next month under the Japanese
authorities’ supervision. After Second World War, PNB opened immediately and acquire the assets and
assumed the liabilities of the banking division of the National Treasury.

In 1949, the role as issuer of currency notes, custodianship of bank reserves, sole depository of
government funds and clearing house of the banking system ceased through the establishment of Central
Bank. The first on-line Electronic Data Processing System in the entire Far East.
 In 1989, the privatization of the Bank started when 30% of outstanding stocks were offered to
public.

The following are the types and the size of each financial services of the Philippine National Bank
as follow:

1. Deposits and related services – it offer a wide range of deposit of products and services that make
banking easy, convenient and trouble-free. Examples of which are Peso, Dollar and Other Foreign
Currency Accounts that focuses on current, savings time deposits, pre-paid cards and more.
2. Bancassurance – provides solid financial services to help ensure and protect the future of
customers. Examples of which are Non-Life Insurance, Life Insurance, Savings and Investments,
Protection /Retirement, Health Insurance, Educational Insurance and more.
3. Remittance Products and Services – these are where OFWs and their beneficiaries can rely on.
Examples of which are receiving remittances, sending remittances and other services.
4. Fund Transfer and Related Services – examples of such are International Foreign Currency Funds
Transfers (Incoming and Outgoing) and Domestic Interbank fund transfers.
5. Treasury Products and Services – these focuses on the foreign exchange, financial hedging
instruments, and the like.
6. Trade Finance Services – are different modes/arrangements of settling international trade
transactions.

In the field of Universal and Commercial Bank Group, as of September 30, 2023, PNB ranks 7 th with
around P 1,198,804.89 worth of total assets in millions (see figure 1 below).
The sizes of each financial services differ accordingly as the pacing of the comparison between
different financial institutions vary and fast moving. In the context of considering how huge its transaction,
let us consider the financial statement of the Philippine National Bank in the year 2022 and 2021. As shown
in figure 1.2, we can observe that the return of equity in the year 2022 declined by around 0.10%, the return
on Assets retains its percentage, the Common Equity Tier 1 Ratio increased by around 1.91% and the
Capital Adequacy Ratio also increased by 1.91% as well. This implicates that the sizes of each financial
services were huge enough to make such impact in the increased ratios while the decrease were just
minimal as it can then be flip immediately into a positive one. In determining the size of the financial
services that the PNB offers it is vital to identify first the groups that we need to consider to where it must
be compared. As other banks also offer different financial services. With such idea, it needs to be dig
deeper and must be conducted by a thorough research and data gathering , however, for this research
paper of ours and considering the limited resources that we can used to from the publicized figures of the
bank, we can consider that each of the financial services they offer were huge enough that they can be
traded or invested by other countries outside the Philippines.

Figure 1. Ranking of Banks as to Total Assets.

CONCLUSION
Based on the learnings from this research, I can say that there are a lot of services that is being
offered where we as future financial services manager can be experts of such. Given that PNB is one of the
top 10 banking institutions in the country there are big opportunities that awaits us when we graduate.
The presence of the different financial services of PNB enabled me to learn different aspects and
as students we were able to determine the difference of such services were one can be pro of such. For
instance, I have been introduced to the different services that links the Philippines to the other parts of the
world. Bank transfers and conversions of currencies were one of the most advantageous of the bank.
Although other banks also offers the same but given that PNB was one of the option it is a good opportunity
for the people to invest in such, what I am more eager to learn more is when I get the chance to be an
intern or worker is the strategies they apply in order to differentiate their products to others.
References:

Philippine National Bank. 2017. Annual Report. 2017. Philippine National Bank 2017 Annual Report.
Building Connections To Serve. Retrieved on March 5, 2024 from
https://www.pnb.com.ph/wp-content/uploads/docs/2017-AnnualReport.pdf

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas 2023. Ranking as to Total Assets Universal and Commercial Bank Group.
Retrieved on March 5, 2024 from https://www.bsp.gov.ph/Statistics/Financial%20Statements/Commercial/
assets.aspx

Philippine National Bank. 2022. Annual Report. 2022. Philippine National Bank 2022 Annual Report.
Magkaisa sa Pagsulong Ng Bayan. Retrieved on March 5, 2024 from https://pnb-website.s3.ap-southeast-
1.amazonaws.com/uploads/docs/2022-AnnualReport.pdf