At least 18 banks have so far applied for the Strengthening Program for Rural Banks (SPRB), the landmark program of the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (PDIC) aimed at protecting the rural bank (RB) industry.
 The 18 banks, mostly RBs and thrift banks, signified their intention to merge or consolidate with other entities.
The banks that want to consolidate/merge have so far reached 32 but the applications only number 18, according to the PDIC corporate affairs office.
Jun Villaret, officer-in-charge of PDIC corporate office, said the high number of applicants only proves that RBs all over the country are as active like their universal and commercial banks (UKBs) counterparts.
“As of July 31, PDIC has received 18 applications for SPRB involving 32 banks,” Villaret told The Daily Tribune.
According to the official, RBs are in tougher grounds because the capital adequacy ratio (CAR) set by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) for them is also 10 percent.
CAR is the banks total capital. If a bank has ample CAR, it can sustain heavy withdrawals without resorting to borrow from its other subsidiaries.
Most banks declare holidays if their CAR has reached very low. The minimum CAR set by BSP is 16 to 17 percent.
The BSP and the PDIC recently intensified the coverage of SPRB into SPRB Plus.
The new agreement signed by the two entities allows strategic third party investors (STPI) to consolidate/merge with any sound and stable thrift banks and UKBs.
According to the BSP and PDIC, the scope of SPRB was broadened to promote successful banking partnerships.
SPRB Plus is the strengthened version of SPRB launched in 2010 that only caters RBs, excluding thrift and UKBs.