Billease Renames Acquired Rural Bank to Billease Bank Inc.

MANILA, Philippines — The Rural Bank of Santa Maria in Ilocos Sur has been renamed Billease Bank Inc., marking another step in consumer finance platform Billease’s expansion into banking following its acquisition of the lender. In a circular letter signed by Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Deputy Governor Lyn Javier, the BSP informed supervised financial institutions that it authorized the change in corporate name on May 13. The Securities and Exchange Commission subsequently approved the bank’s amended articles of incorporation on Sept. 1. The lender’s full corporate name is now Billease Bank Inc. (A Rural Bank), retaining its rural bank classification as it adopts the consumer finance platform’s name. The development follows Billease’s announcement in November 2025 that it was acquiring the then 56-year-old Rural Bank of Santa Maria to support its expansion beyond consumer lending. Billease operates a buy-now-pay-later service, which allows customers to spread the cost of purchases over installments. The company has been working to broaden its business to include deposit services, daily payments and future savings products through its banking arm. The name change also comes as Billease commits additional capital to the lender. In June, the company said it had injected P500 million into the bank and committed another P500 million by the end of 2026. This would bring the bank’s capitalization to more than P1 billion. Billease reported a net profit of P840 million in 2025, its third consecutive year of profitability, as audited consolidated revenue increased by more than 80 percent to P9.3 billion. Its consumer loan portfolio grew by more than 75 percent to about P11.9 billion during the year, supporting the revenue increase. The company also said it was adding more than 100,000 new customers each month and had disbursed a cumulative P130 billion in loans.