Wednesday, September 20, 2006
The Social Security System (SSS) conferred on Planters Development Bank (Plantersbank) two awards including its highest honors during ceremonies that marked the 49th year of the state-run pension fund.
Vice President Noli De Castro (second from left) and SSS president Corazon Dela Paz presented the Balikat ng Bayan Best Participating Financial Institution and Best Collecting Thrift Bank Awards to Plantersbank Account Management Group head and executive vice president Herminio M. Famatigan Jr. and Loan Products Management Department head and senior vice president Ana Rose T. Kwan.
Plantersbank is this year’s sole recipient of the Balikat ng Bayan Award - Best Participating Financial Institution for the volume and quality of loans channeled to private enterprises under the SSS special financing program. Plantersbank also garnered the Balikat ng Bayan Best Collecting Award for amount, transaction volume and remittance collection coverage in the Thrift Bank category.
The Balikat ng Bayan award is conferred by the SSS to top employers, banks and financial institutions in recognition of their laudable achievements and contribution to the attainment of the SSS mission.
Planters Development Bank is the largest private development bank in the country and the leader in SME-focused finance. Its major international shareholders the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC), Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) collectively own 40 percent of the Bank.
Plantersbank recently earned distinction as one of only three banks in the world cited in the Harvard Business School Conference on Global Poverty for its strong “double bottom line approach”-successfully combining profitability with the pursuit of social development objectives.