amando m tetangco, jr : building a collective brand for the banking industry speech by mr amando m tetangco, jr, governor of bangko sentral ng pilipinas ( the central bank of the philippines ), at the 40th anniversary celebration of the bank marketing association of the philippines, manila, 5 september 2014. * * * congratulations on your 40th anniversary! for most individuals, forty years of service is already a full career. and in a sense, this is where the bank marketing association of the philippines stands today : the point where the success of your past meets the eagerness to address the challenges that lie ahead. if we think back to what it was in early 1974, it was certainly a time of change and challenges. the oil crisis had triggered steep oil price hikes, oil rationing, brownouts and a global recession. and the country was under martial law. amidst this socio - economic climate, bmap was established. the objective was to bolster bank marketing which was in its early stages of development. back then, there were no online products for the retail market or structured notes for selected clients. minimum deposit balance was as low as possible and we had those blue shaded 2 - peso bills in circulation. today, we have found success in institutionalizing the “ e ” in e - banking while banks offer a multitude of differentiated products for a continuum of differentiated clients. one can now easily pay bills online, withdraw from teller - less machines, just as routinely as transacting across currencies through money changers. and while we no longer have the 2 - peso bill, we have 5 and 10 - peso coins to go with our new generation banknotes. certainly, there have been so many changes over the past 40 years. but through it all, one thing has remained constant – the objective of banks to actively market their offerings to the retail and corporate markets. what has evolved is the menu of products and services that banks offer. these now come in variants that differ in currencies, investment objective, lot size and, cash flow requirements. we talk of defining differing investment policy statements ( ips ) for clients who may be assessed as equally suitable for exposure to certain types of risks. all these reflect a wide variety of bank offerings that are structured to respond to the banking public ’ s broad range of financial requirements. after all, in a country of 100 million individuals, philippine demographics signifies opportunities in diversity. in other words

share this award with the department of education and bmap. thank you. ladies and gentlemen. financial education that leads to responsible personal finance management is now considered a life skill everyone must have, like reading and writing. ultimately, everyone handles money, whatever station in life one has. i hope therefore that bmap will employ its creativity and ability to reach out to millions of financially unserved filipinos who represent a big untapped market. we are happy that bmap has initiated its own bank marketing awards for best practices in brand and product marketing in the industry. this is aligned with our objective of creating a distinct brand for the industry – a brand marked by both competence and excellence. certainly, these efforts can go a long way in making our banking industry truly responsive to the needs of our people. the task ahead ladies and gentlemen, much has been gained by and in philippine banking. from a marketing perspective, it may be beneficial if banks integrate their individual marketing plans into an industry marketing approach for branding purposes. for instance, if philippine tourism has “ it ’ s more fun in the philippines ” tagline, the banking sector may also consider developing a program that embodies its collective aspirations. competence and excellence founded on effective risk management, an unwavering corporate culture of good governance and the empowerment of the financial consumer. these are the essential brand elements we see of the philippine banking system. i have no doubt that bmap can harness your collective expertise to make this happen and to boost the overall competitiveness of the philippine banking industry. i believe this is a bis central bankers ’ speeches challenge worthy of bmap – an association that has 40 years of track record behind it. with the liberalization of the entry of foreign banks to the philippines and the forthcoming asean integration, developing a distinct brand for philippine banking is a goal worth pursuing. if bmap is successful in developing this as a legacy, the next generations of bank marketing professionals can look back and celebrate this milestone as the game changer that raised the quality of bank marketing in the philippines. i know bmap is up to this challenge. it is said that life begins at 40. this is the perfect time therefore to start on this legacy project. and to add more context and perspective to bmap ’ s 40th anniversary, i wish to share that this year, i am celebrating my 40th year – i am not referring to my birthday and certainly not to my waistline. this year, i