Private banks owned by financial conglomerates continue to dominate the country’s banking sector in terms of assets, deposits and loans, based on the latest Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) data.
The SM Group’s banking arm, BDO Unibank Inc., is still the biggest bank with total assets of P4.693 trillion as of end-March this year, followed by government-owned Land Bank of the Philippines (Landbank) with P3.426 trillion.
Ayala-led Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) is the country’s third largest lender with P3.269 trillion assets while Ty-controlled Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co. (Metrobank) reported P3.183 trillion.
Another Sy-owned bank, China Banking Corp. (Chinabank), is the fifth biggest bank with P1.787 trillion.
In the same period last year, Metrobank was the country’s second biggest bank after BDO, in asset size, and not Landbank.
The third and fourth biggest banks in end-March 2024 were Landbank and BPI followed by Chinabank in fifth place.
As of end-March this year, the other banks in the top 10 in terms of asset size are the Yuchengcos’ Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) with P1.509 trillion; Security Bank Corp. with P1.417 trillion; Lucio Tan Group’s Philippine National Bank (PNB) with P1.287 trillion; state-owned Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) with P1.038 trillion; and Aboitiz-led Union Bank of the Philippines (Unionbank) with P1.007 trillion.
Based on deposits, BDO, Landbank and BPI remain the top three with P3.736 trillion, P3.017 trillion and P2.520 trillion this year. Metrobank and Chinabank completed the top five with P1.974 trillion and P1.162 trillion.
In terms of net loans, BDO also leads with P3.168 trillion but the No. 2 spot was BPI with P2.255 trillion, followed by Metrobank with P1.550 trillion in third.
Landbank reported P1.511 trillion while Chinabank’s net loans totaled P805.345 billion as of end-March this year.
The top 10 banks in terms of deposits and net loans also includes PNB, RCBC, Security Bank, DBP and Unionbank at the end of the first quarter.
Based on the BSP’s latest data, the banking system’s total assets reached P28.211 trillion in the first six months of 2025, while total liabilities amounted to P24.710 trillion.
Total assets are supported by stable deposits, loans and investments. It includes cash and due from banks, total loan portfolio, net investments, real and other properties acquired, and other assets held by banks. Meanwhile, liabilities are banks’ financial obligations, deposit liabilities, bills and bonds payable, unsecured subordinated debt, among others.
By banking group, the 44 large banks or universal and commercial banks have total assets of P26.399 trillion as of end-June while total liabilities stood at P23.189 trillion.
The banking system’s asset mix is mostly loans and investments while the growth in assets’ base is largely driven by the big banks, which accounts for about 93 percent of total assets.
