Good News from UCPB!

UCPB's Foreign Remittance Grows 13% in 2008,
Hit US$2.81 Billion

UCPB's foreign remittance receipts increased by 13% in 2008 on strong inflows from Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) and foreign companies with local offices and business partners in the Philippines.

UCPB vice president for remittance marketing Victor Ruben Tuason said the bank's foreign remittance volume last year reached US$2.81 billion from US$2.49 billion in the preceding year.

The total included both the personal remittances of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) and the non-trade inward remittances of foreign businesses, mainly foreign principals of local ship manning agencies and business process outsourcing firms, that were sent through the bank's network of foreign and local correspondent banks and money transfer company-partners.

Mr. Tuason said money sent through correspondent banks continued to account for the lion share of UCPB's foreign remittance receipts though volume from the money transfer companies are starting to pick up, growing by 41% last year.

“We might see some softening in the growth of OFW remittance this year as a result of the global financial crisis but the volume will remain huge,” Mr. Tuason said.

UCPB has so far inked tie-ups with 11 of these money transfer companies to try to capture a bigger share of the business of the numerous small remitters who use their outlets.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas has reported that OFW remittances in the first 11 months of 2008 grew by 16% to US$15 billion from US$13 billion in the same period in 2007.

UCPB Leasing Posts 30% Income Growth in 2008

UCPB Leasing and Finance Corp. (ULFC), a wholly-owned subsidiary of UCPB, hiked its net income by 30% in 2008 on higher revenues during the year.

ULFC president Aristides Armas said the company's net income increased to P96.2 million last year from P74.72 million a year earlier as revenues grew by 27% from P101 million to P128 million during the period.

Mr. Armas attributed the revenue growth to a more aggressive marketing stance that ULFC took during the year. He said the company also successfully tapped its parent bank for referral business and about 10% of the

ULFC President Aristides Armas

new leases it booked in 2008 came from referrals of UCPB branches.

ULFC, which is marking its 20th year in the leasing business in 2009, is one of only 12 active leasing companies in the country. It offers a full range of financial lease including direct lease, fleet lease, sale and leaseback and vendor lease as well as factoring, receivables financing and commercial loans mainly to the manufacturing, services and utilities sectors.

Mr. Armas said ULFC is looking to exceed its 2008 performance this year by aggressively pushing leasing to middle market companies looking for alternative financing options in these tough times.

UCPB Trust Officer Hurdles Tough CFA Exam

UCPB's trust officer and Trust Banking Group (TBG) head Alexandra Deveras hurdled recently the first of three levels of the tough Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) examinations.

The Trust Officers Association of the Philippines (TOAP) requires banks offering Unit Investment Trust Funds (UITFs) to have at least one of its trust professionals pass the CFA Level 1 examination.

Administered by the international non-profit CFA Institute, the CFA examinations form part of the graduate-level self-study CFA Program for investment professionals. The battery of tests seeks to validate the examinees'

UCPB Trust Banking Group head
VP Alexandra Deveras

competency in portfolio management, investment research, advisory services, investment banking, ethical standards, securities valuation, and financial statement analysis.

Ms. Deveras is one of only 17,500 examinees worldwide who made the grade out of the 50,000 who took the CFA Level 1 examination.

UCPB-Madrigal Branch Teller Wins Over
Client with Great Service

Housewife Shirley Martirez-Dela Peña was not even a UCPB accountholder when she first experienced the warm and efficient service of the bank at its Madrigal Branch. Some three years back, her dealings with the branch were limited to making regular interbranch deposits to her nephew's account in UCPB-Dumaguete Branch. Yet, she never felt like a stranger because branch teller, Aldrin Santos, gave the same importance to her transactions as he did to those of the branch clients.

That was enough to win her over. She decided to open a savings account for her daughter and became even more impressed as time went by.

Teller Aldrin Santos

Recently, a delighted Ms. Dela Peña wrote a letter commending Aldrin “for his exemplary dedication to work not usually seen these days in most establishments”.

UCPB-Madrigal teller Aldrin Santos (fifth, from left) with his branch colleagues. Shown from left are teller Michelle Tan, sales associate Con Samela, branch operations officer Rowena Maghirang, branch manager Farina Yang, sales officer Ethel Villaflor, senior teller Candy Villagracia and teller Catherine Sy. Not in photo is sales associate Sam Dionio.

UCPB-Vito Cruz Sales Associate Earns
Client's Nod for Efficient Service

Time is gold, and this holds true for many professionals, like UCPB-Vito Cruz Branch client Teresa Matriano, who teaches computer applications at the nearby De La Salle University-Manila.

Sales associate Sherryl Adame knows this fully well which is why she makes it a point to process Ms. Matriano's transactions as quickly as she can, as she does for all the branch's clients.

Ms. Matriano has been dealing with Sherryl for three years now, and recently she took time off from her busy schedule to shoot out a short note commending Sherryl's efficiency.

Sales Associate
Sherryl Adame

UCPB has always been known for its excellent customer service and the people who nurture this reputation are the associates like Sherryl, who live the credo of total customer satisfaction day in and day out.

A Team at Work. UCPB-Vito Cruz Branch sales associate Sherryl Adame (seated, 2nd from left) could not have gotten Ms.Teresa Matriano's commendation without the support of her branch colleagues. They are (seated, from left) teller Mhaila Laxa, sales associate Maybelle Zayas, senior teller Kathleen Pailan, teller Vicky Fabro, and (standing, from left) sales officer Daniel Castro Jr., branch manager Gina Mercado, teller Valerie Kay Perez and branch operations officer Adan Imo Jr.

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