The United Coconut Planters Bank, more popularly known by its initials, UCPB, or by its old name, Cocobank, was a government-controlled and was one of the largest

bank A bank is a financial institution that accepts Deposit account, deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital m ...

s in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

, ranking within the top twenty banks in the country in terms of assets. It is the only existing

universal bank A universal bank participates in many kinds of banking activities and is both a commercial bank and an investment bank as well as providing other financial services such as insurance.Philippine Stock Exchange The Philippine Stock Exchange, Inc. ( fil, Pamilihang Sapi ng Pilipinas; ) is the national stock exchange of the Philippines. The exchange was created in 1992 from the merger of the Manila Stock Exchange and the Makati Stock Exchange. Includin ...

. The bank, owing to its name, catered heavily to

coconut The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family (Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, the seed, or the f ...

farmers, but also served a wide-ranging clientele. In July 2020, the Philippine government raised its stake with the bank to 97%, thus resulting for its conversion to a government controlled bank. Effective March 1, 2022, UCPB merged with Land Bank of the Philippines, with Land Bank as the surviving entity.

History

UCPB started on May 15, 1963, as First United Bank (Philippines). With only four branches at the time, it was a small

commercial bank A commercial bank is a financial institution which accepts deposits from the public and gives loans for the purposes of consumption and investment to make profit. It can also refer to a bank, or a division of a large bank, which deals with ...

. UCPB's origin can be found in Presidential Decree No. 755 (or P.D. No. 755) by President

Ferdinand Marcos Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos Sr. ( , , ; September 11, 1917 – September 28, 1989) was a Filipino politician, lawyer, dictator, and kleptocrat who was the 10th president of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He ruled under martial ...

on July 29, 1975, instructed the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) to "formulate and recommend for adoption credit policies affecting production, marketing and processing of coconut and other palm oils" and "to provide readily available credit facilities to the coconut farmers at preferential rates." The PCA, headed by

Juan Ponce Enrile Juan Valentin Furagganan Ponce Enrile Sr., (born Juanito Furagganan; February 14, 1924), also referred to by his initials JPE, or Manong Johnny, is a Filipino politician and lawyer known for his role in the administration of Philippine dicta ...

, then purchased the 72.2% of First United Bank owned by

Jose Cojuangco Jose is the English transliteration of the Hebrew and Aramaic name ''Yose'', which is etymologically linked to ''Yosef'' or Joseph. The name was popular during the Mishnaic and Talmudic periods. * Jose ben Abin * Jose ben Akabya *Jose the Galil ...

. Cocobank was the official short bank name in the 1980s and the early 1990s. In 1990, UCPB, along with

Equitable Banking Corporation Equitable PCI Bank, Inc. () was one of the largest banks in the Philippines, being the third-largest bank in terms of assets. It was the largest bank before it was overtaken by Metrobank in 1995. It is the result of the merger of Equitable Bankin ...

(now Banco de Oro Universal Bank),

Philippine National Bank The Philippine National Bank (PNB, Filipino/ tl, Bangko Nasyonal ng Pilipinas, lit=; es, Banco Nacional Filipino; Hokkien ) is one of the largest banks in the Philippines. It was established by the Philippine government on July 22, 1916, duri ...

and the Far East Bank and Trust Company (now the

Bank of the Philippine Islands Bank of the Philippine Islands ( fil, Bangko ng Kapuluang Pilipinas, es, Banco de las Islas Filipinas, commonly known as BPI; ) is a universal bank in the Philippines. It is the first bank in both the Philippines and Southeast Asia. It is t ...

), formed

MegaLink MegaLink (also spelled Megalink) is a Philippine-based developer of mobile and banking software as well as a service provider for banks, specifically for automatic teller machine networks and point of sale systems of banks in the country. Fro ...

, one of the three main

interbank network An interbank network, also known as an ATM consortium or ATM network, is a computer network that enables ATM cards issued by a financial institution that is a member of the network to be used to perform ATM transactions through ATMs that belo ...

s in the Philippines. However, UCPB's ATM services date back to the 1980s, when it was one of the first financial institutions to offer ATM services. It established its pre-need services arm, Cocoplans, in 1993. 6075Rizal Cainta Roads Buildings Landmarks 06

6075Rizal Cainta Roads Buildings Landmarks 06

The bank is also heavily involved in social development projects and other

charity Charity may refer to: Giving * Charitable organization or charity, a non-profit organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being of persons * Charity (practice), the practice of being benevolent, giving and sharing * C ...

works. Today, UCPB is one of the largest Philippine banks, with 188 branches and 279 ATMs nationwide. It is also the only universal bank to have a rural banking subsidiary, although this has since been merged into its thrift banking operations since late 2005. In November, the last quarter of 2015, UCPB is now a member of

BancNet BancNet (also spelled Bancnet) is a Philippine-based interbank network connecting the ATM networks of local and offshore banks, and the country's single interbank network in the Philippines in terms of the number of member banks and annual tr ...

. In 2018, the bank started its conversion to a government bank, joining the league of LandBank,

Development Bank of the Philippines The Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) is a state-owned development bank headquartered in Makati, Philippines. It was established after World War II in 1947 on the government's effort through its mandate to rebuild the country's war to ...

and

Overseas Filipino Bank The Overseas Filipino Bank (OFBank) is the state-owned digital-only, branchless bank in the Philippines. Formerly known as the Philippine Postal Savings Bank (PPSB) or PostBank, it is the smallest of the Philippines' three state-owned banks (t ...

. Later in 2020, the Philippine government dropped the privatization plans of the bank by further raising its stake of ownership from 75% to 97%, thus resulting furthermore for UCPB in becoming as a state-owned and controlled bank.Government expands UCPB stake to majority
Retrieved August 16, 2020.

Merger with LandBank

On June 25, 2021, President

Rodrigo Duterte Rodrigo Roa Duterte (, ; born March 28, 1945), also known as Digong, Rody, and by the initials DU30 and PRRD, is a Filipino lawyer and politician who served as the 16th president of the Philippines from 2016 to 2022. He is the chairperson ...

signed an Executive Order No. 142 to merge

Land Bank of the Philippines Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP; often referred to simply as LandBank), is a government-owned bank in the Philippines with a special focus on serving the needs of farmers and fishermen. While it provides the services of a universal bank, it ...

with the UCPB, with the former as the surviving entity.

Subsidiaries and affiliates

5478Barangays Poblacion Alaminos Laguna 36

Subsidiaries of UCPB are the following: *UCPB Leasing and Finance Corporation *UCPB Savings Bank *UCPB Securities, Inc.

Competition

Due to its position as a universal bank, UCPB competes primarily against major Philippine banks like Metrobank, Banco de Oro,

EastWest Bank EastWest Bank (), more formally known as East West Banking Corporation, is the eleventh largest bank in the Philippines in terms of assets. It was founded in 1994 in Manila by Andrew Gotianun. It is a member of the Filinvest Group, also foun ...

, BPI,

and PNB. As a state controlled bank, it joins the league in competition with other government banks -

and

References

External links