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Organizing
and building a lender from scratch is the wish of any
banker. And if he or she is given that chance, most likely
a banker will not waste a second in grabbing that golden
opportunity.
Lamberto
R. Villena, president and chief executive officer of
Sterling Bank of Asia, says he did not hesitate when he
was offered by Sterling board chairman Ben C. Tiu to head
the new bank.
“The dream
of every banker is to build his mark in the industry. But
the ultimate offer is you are given the opportunity to
organize a bank. That is a great opportunity. But the
challenge is daunting and you have a big challenge because
I am starting a savings bank,” says Villena, a graduate of
law and Masters of Business Administration at the
University of the Philippines.
Villena,
who logged 31 years of banking experience with the
Yuchengco-owned Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC), was
undeniably the right man for the job, having been one of
the men who steered the bank to its lofty position in the
Philippine banking industry.
Before
retiring, Villena worked as the executive vice president
of RCBC’s branch banking group, where he was in charge of
the bank’s 183 branches network and 220 ATMs nationwide;
and its small- and medium-scale industry-lending division,
where he managed around P12 billion in loans to some 6,000
small businesses nationwide.
As a
senior officer in RCBC, he also headed various major
groups, such as the corporate banking, project finance;
consumer banking (real estate and auto loans, credit card,
foreign-exchange remittances); branch banking (deposit
generation, small- and medium-scale industry loans, branch
expansion); treasury (local currency and foreign exchange,
money market); government securities (debt papers,
liquidity and reserve management, foreign-exchange
trading, spots, swaps, forwards); credit and collection
(appraisal, credit investigation, financial and project
analysis, loan review, central liabilities section);
marketing services (product development, customer
services, product and market research, product launch and
promotions); management information services and economic
analysis; executive development training (recruitment,
training and officer placement) and remedial management.
What’s in
a name
Villena
did not go the usual route in getting the job. He recalls
that his first meeting with Tiu was over lunch, wherein
there were no discussions on the bank.
“Mr. Tiu
did not ask questions. We just ate lunch and asked me if I
am free again to join him for lunch the next time around.
Gradually, he was downloading the vision of the bank,”
says Villena, a philosophy graduate of Ateneo de Manila
University.
“He also
revealed his plan to put a commercial bank in the near
future, which will also go public some time. But the first
stage was to build a commercial bank,” adds Villena.
But before
going full blast in its operations, they needed to have a
name. “The first thing was to baptize the group,” says
Villena.
The JTKC
group tapped advertising agencies to recommend a suitable
name for the bank. The agencies submitted 83 names, which
included such tags as Mango Bank and Tiger Bank.
One agency
says the reason it pushed for the “mango” was because of
its export quality and its close association with the
Philippines
“But I
want a name that connotes international standards,” says
Villena.
In a
meeting, one of Tiu’s friends suggested the world
“sterling.” He says sterling means quality and brightness.
Furthermore, sterling is also associated with quality and
is also the currency used by the United Kingdom.
“We also
have to make it international-sounding and regional. Why
not put ‘Asia’ in the name? But we want to make it sure
that it’s not a word associated with businesses that have
bad reputations,” Villena points out.
Initial
hiring
Being a
savings bank, Villena felt forming a high-caliber
management team would be a daunting task, since all the
top bankers are already committed to their respective
banks.
He
initially recruited 11 people for positions in accounting,
operations, logistics and bank site, and human resources.
He could
have recruited his colleagues in RCBC, but that was not
part of Villena’s strategy. He says his relationships with
the Yuchengcos are very good and he wouldn’t do such a
thing as to poach employees. “I didn’t want to raid the
ranks of RCBC. I have good ties with the management,” he
stresses.
In fact,
Yuchengco group patriarch Ambassador Alfonso Yuchengco
didn’t want him to leave and wanted to retain him as a
consultant.
But
Villena wanted to explore other new things for a change,
and Tiu was determined to build his niche in banking.
To prove
the Tiu family is serious in putting up a new savings
bank, he put P1 billion in capital for the bank—way above
the P300-million capital, or thrice the country’s central
bank’s minimum requirement—making it among the top 10
highest capitalized thrift banks in the country.
Sterling,
formerly known as the Far East Savings Bank, is
principally owned by the JTKC Group of Companies, Surewell
Equities and Star Equities. The JTKC group and Star
Equities are engaged in a wide range of industries,
ranging from logistics to finance, real estate,
manufacturing, and hotel and resort properties. Some of
these companies include I-Remit Inc., TKC Steel Corp.,
Discovery Suites, Amorsolo Mansion, Gilarmi Apartments,
Mabini Mansion, Boulevard Mansion, JTKC Land and Kent
Vinyl Tiles.
Surewell
Equities, on the other hand, is a holding company engaged
in various interests, among which are Confed Properties
Inc., I-Remit Inc., GMA Bank, Flexi-Woods Inc.,
Banwood Construction
Center and Six Alps Corp.
The Tiu
group employs around 10,000 people, and Villena points out
that they are determined to succeed in their latest
undertaking.
Things
fell into the proper places after some of his colleagues
in the banking industry decided to join him. Aside from
Tiu and Villena, other officers in the board are Gregorio
Yu, vice chairman; Bansan Choa, director; Bansan C. Choa,
director; William L. Chua, director; Harris Edsel D.
Jacildo, director; Adolfo S. Suzara, director; A. Bayani
K. Tan, director and corporate secretary; John Y. Tiu Jr.,
director; Ruben C. Tiu, director; and Ignatius F. Yenko,
director.
Aside from
Villena, other senior officers are Asterio L. Favis Jr.,
executive vice president; Rene V. Jazmines, executive vice
president; Regino V. Magno, chief risk officer; Manuel H.
Acosta Jr., vice president; Dulce Y. Edillor, vice
president; Ferdinand G. La Chica, vice president; Wilfredo
Perry B. Morales, vice resident; Humberto C. Moscoso II,
vice president; Anna Graciela C. Singson, vice president;
Joseph T. Sulit, vice president; and Alfredo S. Vitangcol
Jr., vice president.
Villena
says the team is a very solid group. In fact, a Bangko
Sentral ng Pilipinas official commended him for forming
such a strong team.
Sterling
started operations in March 2007 and is very enthusiastic
as it marks its first anniversary.
Service
excellence
Villena
says at the core of the bank’s corporate culture is
service excellence, which was set even before the officers
embarked on a strategy session.
“From that
time on, I liked the vision of his proposed bank because
you can practically create something from zero,” says
Villena.
To achieve
that high degree of excellence, Villena led the
recruitment of top-level management experts like Tan and
Yenko. He believes that only professionals dedicated to
their craft can deliver that kind of service.
Synergy is
another important component to achieve service excellence.
Villena explains that synergy can be achieved through the
proper delegation of task to every employee at
Sterling.
He also
points out that there must be a nurturing environment to
motivate employees to deliver the kind of service it
aspires to provide.
“When you
serve somebody, you can command a price. Professional
service is not enough; you must do it with a heart,” says
Villena.
Villena
says everybody, from the president to the security guard,
has an important role to play to achieve a service
culture. “I often tell the security guards that their job
is an important part to the success of our corporate
philosophy, because they are the ones in the frontline
welcoming our clients,” he says.
Egalitarian
As part of
the nurturing environment,
Sterling
treats its employees in an egalitarian manner. For
instance, every employee of Sterling, from the CEO to the
janitor, can drink cups of coffee exclusively brewed by
Figaro as long as he wants. It goes the same for the food.
Villena says food served should be accessible to all
Sterling employees.
“Even the
janitors and security guards can eat the food Mr. Tiu and
I eat. I demand our service suppliers that they service
our organization wherein the lowest rank will be happy. I
always tell them I judge their performance by the way they
serve our lowest-ranked employees,” says Villena.
Villena
fondly recalls that their latest Christmas party was
celebrated in one big affair. In the main office, all
employees were in just one party. “Even up to now, the
guards and the janitors keep on telling they enjoyed the
party very much because it was like a family affair,” he
says.
Just like
any professional executive, Villena leads the way in
setting the example. For instance, he always wears the
company ID and would tell the office of his location
whenever he’s out.
Villena
says Sterling wants to be also known as the bank with a
heart, meaning it will serve its clientele sincerely. “It
is a financial institution that one can trust with genuine
concern for its customers,” says Villena.
Small biz
As far as
the small to medium enterprises (SMEs) are concerned, he
says there’s fulfillment in helping them grow because they
will definitely improve their well-being. “It’s true that
managing SMEs is hard but, at the same time, more
fulfilling because you get the satisfaction,” he says.
Barely a
year since it started operations, Sterling is displaying
aggressiveness toward a nationwide expansion. It started
the lunar new year by opening three new branches
strategically located on Sen. Gil Puyat Avenue in Makati,
Banawe in Quezon City and Davao-Monteverde. These
additions bring the bank’s total branch network to 12
nationwide.
Sterling’s
branches are on Ayala Avenue and Sen. Gil Puyat Avenue in
Makati, Greenhills, Banawe, Masangkay-Binondo, San
Fernando-Binondo, Ongpin, Grace Park-Caloocan, Valenzuela,
Iloilo, Bacolod and Davao-Monteverde. A new corporate
center on
Ortigas Avenue
in Greenhills, as well as additional branches in
Cebu-Fuente Osmeña, Cebu-Magallanes, Emerald Avenue in
Ortigas and in Divisoria are in various stages of
construction.
“We have
had a very good year, considering that we started the bank
from scratch,” he says.
Villena
says Sterling’s business plan involves setting up of
structures in the first year and strengthening and
stabilizing activities in the second year.
This year
Villena says the bank will continue to open branches
nationwide and is targeting to have a network of 25
branches by year-end.
“We will
also continue to expand our basic products, such as peso
and foreign-currency deposits, and consumer [auto,
housing, personal, salary] and SME loans. In addition, we
will offer our customers higher-level value products, like
cash management, Visa debit cards, trust operations and
government securities dealership,” he says.
Villena
points out that the entry of Sterling into the Philippine
banking industry is set to raise the bar in the country’s
banking industry by providing its clients with integrated
and innovative products at the best value, always packaged
with excellent customer service and a very personal touch,
such as free-flowing coffee available in their branches.
“Excellence will never cease to be attractive. Our growth
will be based on our intent to create a brand of
excellence from the start,” says Villena.
As it
turns one in March, the rookie of the banking industry can
say it has truly delivered a sterling performance. |
