Raffy Montemayor, co-founder of Salmon Group Ltd., announced that the privately-held financial technology firm plans to raise fresh capital next year to upgrade its subsidiary, Rural Bank of Sta. Rosa (Laguna) Inc. (RBSR), into a thrift bank.
Currently, RBSR is a rural bank with its headquarters in Sta. Rosa and a branch in Bacoor. It has a minimum required authorized capital of P50 million.
Montemayor said that RBSR intends to apply for a thrift bank license from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas next year, aiming for a minimum capitalization of P2 billion. This capital increase would allow RBSR to operate more than 50 branches—a wider network that would allow the Salmon Group pursue its goal of financial inclusion. Eventually, RBSR will be renamed Salmon Bank.
The capital hike will likely be funded through a new round of fundraising, though Montemayor has not yet determined the exact amount needed. Earlier this year, Salmon Group raised in two separate capital-raising exercises a combined USD55 million from investors that include the World Bank’s International Finance Corp., Abu Dhabi-based ADQ, and Singapore’s Northstar Group.
This larger capital base has enabled Salmon Group to expand RBSR’s loan portfolio boost profits, and launch new financial products to foster inclusion financial in the country. Montemayor noted that RBSR’s lending primarily targets blue-collar workers, an underserved market estimated at 40 million people.
RBSR’s total loans exceeded P1 billion in October, up from P67.5 million in 2023, driven by purchases of low-risk loans. Additionally, RBSR offers an 8.88% interest rate on deposits over P500,000, helping increase total deposits to P522.1 million by the end of September from P77.5 million at the end of last year.
Montemayor also announced that RBSR will launch a “prepaid card” by December for revolving credit line customers of Sun Prime Financing, a service that provides customers with access to the Mastercard network of around 400,000 merchants across the country.
