SECURITY Bank Corp. is touting its digital cash management system (DCMS) that the lender said “enables organizations to closely and easily monitor cash flows, settle obligations on time, properly disburse funds, maximize liquidity and minimize the cost of doing business in the long run.”
In a statement, the bank said that “entrepreneurs who performed manual bookkeeping and vendor handling, for example, need not be reliant on traditional means of cash management.” The bank said that through its DCMS it calls “DigiBanker,” these entrepreneurs “now have an option to automate tedious and often time-consuming processes.”
“Many businesses used to view cash management as a nice-to-have value-added service provided by banks. Today, it is viewed as a vital tool in helping them run their business,” Security Bank Executive Vice-President and Transaction Banking Group Head John Cary Ong was quoted in the statement as saying. “And as these businesses go through their own digital transformation, digital cash management services are now a critical and integral part of their end-to-end financial operations.”
According to Ong, since the DCMS’s inception in 2002, the lender has helped over 30,000 small-to-medium enterprises and large corporations “handle their finances and grow to where they are now.”
“As Security Bank continues to invest in the latest technology, we aim to empower businesses to reach their full potential,” he added.
According to the lender, its DCMS is used by five of the top 10 corporations in the Philippines.
“Developing a robust cash management system to ensure that the financial control of businesses is seamless is one of [our] core strengths,” the bank’s statement read. “With years of experience in transaction banking and cash management, the bank regularly updates its technology stack and keeps a laser-sharp focus on optimizing its platforms to offer new capabilities that improve the overall customer experience.”
The bank said its “commitment to customer-centricity” has allowed it to help businesses thrive amid continuous disruptions.
The bank cited that a client since 2009 has leveraged its DCMS platform to help manage finances, from payments to the Bureau of Customs, settlement of government-related dues and check-handling.
The bank said its client started manually monitoring post-dated cheques and conducted daily submissions to a branch for deposit.
“However, as their business and revenues grew, the need to streamline its financial operations became a priority,” the bank said of its client.
Operating expense
IN its disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange last November 12, the bank said its investments in technology and manpower to improve customer experience drove operating expense in the first nine months of the year slightly up by 2 percent from the same period last year. The cost-to-income ratio was 57.3 percent.
The listed lender posted net profit of P4.8 billion in the January-to-September period. Profit before tax was P7.6 billion, up 103 percent from the same period last year, the bank said.
Security Bank said its net interest income for the period was P20.5 billion, down 12 percent from year-ago level. Total non-interest income was P7.0 billion, down 59 percent as 2020 was buoyed from extraordinary securities trading gains.
The bank said its service charges, fees and commissions increased 24 percent to P3.2 billion, with fee income sources increasing from their year-ago levels. Other non-interest income excluding securities trading gains grew 45 percent to P2.7 billion.