Roots of Progress:
The Bank of Florida Story
The history of Bank of Florida is as colorful and vibrant as the very reason for its conception. For more than four decades, its mandate remains eternal and perpetual: to spur and pursue at all costs, in whatever situation, Philippine countryside development by proactively lifting the status of the Small and Medium Entrepreneurs and the country’s economy as a whole, With this burning desire, fuelled by a genuine concern for their cabalens in their minds and a noble mission in their hearts--- Rufino Dimson, Alfredo Infante, Marciano Dizon, Santiago Payumo, Joaquin Gozun, Jr., Francisco Reyes, Sr., Quiterio Tuazon, Andres Guanzon, Ramon Joven, Emilio Suarez and Manuel Valdes ---established and incorporated the Rural Bank of Floridablanca, Inc. (RBFI) on February 10, 1964 with an initial paid-up capital of PhP288,000.00 proved to be the perfect endeavour, simply at the right time, at the right place. The 60’s was unfolding before the world the emergence of Floridablanca, the quaint, northwestern Pampanga town--- host to the Philippine Air Force’s Basa Air Base--- as a sugar producing area, where the export and local consumption of sugar was the staple source of income for its population.
The bank’s first, small edifice in Del Carmen, Floridablanca which opened on November 10, 1964 would be the catalyst that moved the town’s industrial and agricultural wheels to motion, as it saw to the financial requisites of local sugar producers, planters and traders dealing with the now defunct Pampanga Sugar Mill (PaSuMil), then one of the country’s biggest sugar processors. Growth became an inevitable consequence that prodded the bank to relocate from the sugar mill’s compound to the town’s poblacion to better serve an increasing clientele mix. The bank’s central location became a symbolic seed that started rooting and blooming to fruits of progress.
Seven years later a visionary with a pioneering spirit, Ladislao Sibal David, Founder and Chair of the House of David Group, joined the bank’s Board of Directors, subsequently becoming its President in 1971 and driving the bank further up its countryside banking niche. The bank’s course would change into bigger dimensions when a Second Generation David, Teresa David-Carlos--- a banker, Certified Public Accountant and the eldest among the seven David children--- took her seat as a member of the Board of Directors in 1983. With her full-time involvement in the bank’s operations as Executive Vice-President two years later and as President in 1987, the bank saw itself steadily fortifying its financial foundation and expanding its network to realize its vision and accomplish its mission.
With the map of growth clearly chartered, the bank opened its first branch in San Matias, Sto. Tomas, Pampanga, the pottery haven and casket-production center of the province on January 17, 1992. Discovering a true partner in pursuing their business interests, the town’s entrepreneurial community soon found themselves at the Sto. Tomas Branch Office, signing up for savings and current accounts and applying for various types of loans, an essential boost the bank granted them for their endeavors.
With the mandate to assist Small and Medium Entrepreneurs (SMEs) keenly in their hearts and minds, the bank’s Board of Directors vigorously sowed the seeds of progress in the countryside, setting their sights from the west, to the south, to the east, then to the center of Pampanga, which by then was rising fast as Central Luzon’s premier growth corridor. In 1993, the bank’s Sta. Ana Branch Office opened its vault for the agriculture and trading communities of the town, providing them with much needed financial assistance and resources that gradually lifted the local economy and its livelihood machinery.
Similarly in 1993, the bank would springboard from Sta. Ana to Pampanga’s eastern-most town, Arayat, with its Arayat Branch Office serving the banking needs of the predominant rice-granaries of the famous Sinukuan folk.
And thirty one years after its first transaction at the Floridablanca Branch Office, the bank moved to its Executive Offices in the City of San Fernando (Pampanga) in the first quarter of 1994. The three-level corporate headquarters houses the San Fernando Branch Office, which was inaugurated simultaneously with the launching of “Chequemate,” the bank’s unique, innovative and patented interest-earning current account. It was a most significant moment for the bank, transforming itself from Rural Bank of Floridablanca, Inc. to the more dynamic Bank of Florida, a key industry player that was shining with a new corporate logo and colours that radiated its strength and stability.
With the map of growth clearly chartered, the bank opened its first branch in San Matias, Sto. Tomas, Pampanga, the pottery haven and casket-production center of the province on January 17, 1992. Discovering a true partner in pursuing their business interests, the town’s entrepreneurial community soon found themselves at the Sto. Tomas Branch Office, signing up for savings and current accounts and applying for various types of loans, an essential boost the bank granted them for their endeavors.
With the mandate to assist Small and Medium Entrepreneurs (SMEs) keenly in their hearts and minds, the bank’s Board of Directors vigorously sowed the seeds of progress in the countryside, setting their sights from the west, to the south, to the east, then to the center of Pampanga, which by then was rising fast as Central Luzon’s premier growth corridor. In 1993, the bank’s Sta. Ana Branch Office opened its vault for the agriculture and trading communities of the town, providing them with much needed financial assistance and resources that gradually lifted the local economy and its livelihood machinery.
Similarly in 1993, the bank would springboard from Sta. Ana to Pampanga’s eastern-most town, Arayat, with its Arayat Branch Office serving the banking needs of the predominant rice-granaries of the famous Sinukuan folk.
And thirty one years after its first transaction at the Floridablanca Branch Office, the bank moved to its Executive Offices in the City of San Fernando (Pampanga) in the first quarter of 1994. The three-level corporate headquarters houses the San Fernando Branch Office, which was inaugurated simultaneously with the launching of “Chequemate,” the bank’s unique, innovative and patented interest-earning current account. It was a most significant moment for the bank, transforming itself from Rural Bank of Floridablanca, Inc. to the more dynamic Bank of Florida, a key industry player that was shining with a new corporate logo and colours that radiated its strength and stability.
When the 600 year-old Mt. Pinatubo devastated half of Pampanga with lahar, the bank’s leadership remained steadfast, and reacted swiftly by providing its clients with alternative branches, opening its Pulilan Branch Office in Pulilan, Bulacan in 1996 and the Capas Branch Office in Capas, Tarlac. It was a dramatic picture where roots dug deep in the ground in the name of service. The bank remained undaunted by the Asian Financial Crisis of 1997, a classic moment that proved the bank would be there on time when the rural banking community needed it most.
That same year, the ascendancy of the House of David Group---the multi-subsidiary David Family Corporation--- as the dominant force among the bank’s shareholder groups, would lead to modifications in operations and the manner it would conduct business towards the new millennium. With the change in the ownership structure, the bank became the flagship of the House of David Group, bound by strong good corporate governance principles and guided by the David Family Constitution.
1998 was a hallmark year for change as bank President Teresa David-Carlos, spearheading the team of First Generation and Second Generation Davids and Non-Family Members, rolled out a series of professionalization and transition processes, reengineering the bank from top to bottom, and investing heavily on human capital to strengthen its internal and external capabilities. The gains became evident at year-end as the bank came out of the financial crisis with a very healthy balance sheet, plus two new branches to boot: the Candaba Branch Office which opened in September and the Guagua Branch Office which started serving in October. As the New Millennium unfolded, the bank had become a byword in the industry and was among the country’s Top 15 Rural Banks. In its portfolio, aside from an expanded client base and wide array of products and services, were two new branches: the Mabalacat Branch Office and the Magalang Branch Office which began doing business in the countryside on August 31, 2002 and June 17, 2004 respectively.
By that time, the bank was majority-owned by the House of David Group and was positioning itself towards the global market, with its symbolic banner “We Think Global, We Act Rural.”
With this thrust, the bank acquired in November 2006 the operations of its sister company, the House of David Door-to-Door Services, Inc., a historic, pioneer remittance center with foreign exchange correspondents the world over. With this initiative, the bank has finally sowed its seed of “global reality” and has stamped its mark as a global rural bank when it opened its 12th branch at the Global City in the Bonifacio Global City, Taguig, Metro Manila in February 2008.
Still, the bank remains true to its rural roots, keeping local entrepreneurs close to its heart, with the foresight to bring their aspirations on the global map. Bank of Florida President and Chief Executive Officer Teresa David-Carlos had pictured it well and clear: “For more than four decades, we have been at the forefront of countryside banking, serving the Small and Medium Entrepreneurs with extensive financial programs and services that allowed them to grow. This has always been our vision: to spark countryside development. We have achieved it, but we are not going to rest as long as there remains an SME to be served.”
Today, Bank of Florida continues to sow and nurture the very seeds of progress that took roots more than four decades ago, so the entrepreneur would reap the harvests of a good and bright future.
