United Coconut Planters Bank

United Coconut Planters Bank

Company type	Private
Industry	Finance and Insurance
Founded	Manila, Philippines (1963)
Defunct	1 March 2022
Headquarters	Makati, Philippines
Key people	Menardo R. Jimenez, Chairman Jeronimo U. Kilayko, President and CEO
Products	Financial Services
Net income	P3.73 billion PHP () (2012) [3]
Number of employees	2,883
Website	www.ucpb.com

The United Coconut Planters Bank, more popularly known by its initials, UCPB, or by its old name, Cocobank, is one of the largest banks in the Philippines, ranking within the top twenty banks in the Philippines in terms of assets. It is one of two universal banks not listed on the Philippine Stock Exchange, the other being Allied Bank. The bank, owing to its name, caters heavily to coconut farmers, but also serves a wide-ranging clientele.

History

The last incarnation of the original logo of UCPB, which lasted from the 1980s until 2009.

UCPB started on May 15, 1963, as First United Bank (Philippines). With only four branches at the time, it was a small commercial bank.

UCPB's origin can be found in Presidential Decree 775 (or P.D. 775) where President Ferdinand Marcos in July 29, 1975, instructed the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) to "formulate and recommend for adoption credit policies affecting production, marketing and processing of coconut and other palm oils" and "to provide readily available credit facilities to the coconut farmers at preferential rates." The PCA, headed by Juan Ponce Enrile, then purchased the 72.2 percent of First United Bank owned by Jose Cojuangco.

Cocobank was the official short bank name in the 1980s and the early 1990s.

In 1990, UCPB, along with Equitable Banking Corporation (now Banco de Oro Universal Bank), Philippine National Bank and the Far East Bank and Trust Company (now the Bank of the Philippine Islands), formed MegaLink, one of the three main interbank networks in the Philippines. However, UCPB's ATM services date back to the 1980s, when it was one of the first financial institutions to offer ATM services. It established its pre-need services arm, Cocoplans, in 1993.

The bank is also heavily involved in social development projects and other charity works. Today, UCPB is one of the largest Philippine banks, with 188 branches and 279 ATMs nationwide. It is also the only universal bank to have a rural banking subsidiary, although this has since been merged into its thrift banking operations since late 2005. In November, the last quarter of 2015, UCPB is now a proud member of BancNet.

Subsidiaries and affiliates

File:Lucban,Quezonjf8756 06.JPG

UCPB Savings Bank, Inc. branch in Lucban, Quezon

Subsidiaries of UCPB are the following:

• UCPB Leasing and Finance Corporation
• UCPB Savings Bank
• UCPB Securities, Inc.

Competition

Due to its position as a universal bank, UCPB competes primarily against major Philippine banks like Metrobank, Banco de Oro, East West Unibank, BPI, Land Bank of the Philippines and Philippine National Bank.

See also

• List of banks in the Philippines
• MegaLink
• BancNet

External links

• UCPB website
• UCPB expects 15% increase in net income next year
• UCPB Income up 18% in Q1
• UCPB Corporate Life Extended
• Gov’t set to bid out stake in UCPB
• "Bank ordered to pay P1B to client over fraudulent loan".
• Former GMA Network exec elected UCPB chair