MANILA - EastWest Bank on Tuesday said it is keen on strengthening its consumer base by offering products focused on the segment as it expects to grow further post-pandemic.

EastWest CEO Jerry Ngo told reporters that the bank’s consumer portfolio has grown as it chooses to stay focused on providing an array of products while also prioritizing the shift to digitalization for customer convenience.

“Our consumer portfolio is like 75 percent of our corporate portfolio. Right now, we’re just making sure na we’re able to maximize on technology, we’re able to maximize on the processing improvement,” Ngo said.

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EastWest Director Isabelle Gotianun Yap said that the bank will continue to “embrace its identity” in consumer banking.

The bank is also aiming to attract the younger generation to formal banking in its advocacy to increase banking penetration in the country.

“When the demographic actually and the GDP goes up, the mix of loans actually becomes more skewed towards consumer loans because everyone wants to upgrade and graduate in their life,” Gotianun Yap said.

The bank is also investing in its digital banking segment, as more consumers shift to digital transactions.

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EastWest said it is positioning itself to be a contender in digital banking with its digital banking app, Komo.

Ngo stressed that financial transactions must remain certain and secure even in the digital space through efforts of financial institutions to make their platforms trustworthy.

But he also added that the government should also be committed to going after fraudsters by starting with prioritizing the implementation of the national ID system