Salmon Bank (Grameen Bank), Inc., owned by financial technology company Salmon Group Ltd., is looking to increase its capitalization to fund its growth as it looks to apply for a thrift banking license next year.
“So, we are preparing ourselves to apply for a thrift bank next year. In terms of capital, we are already there. We meet the minimum capital required for a thrift bank. But we want to make sure that we have completed significant investments in people and technology before we apply,” Raffy Montemayor, Salmon co-founder and director and chairperson of Salmon Bank, said in a briefing Wednesday.
The bank plans to raise an additional P600 million in new funding before year-end and another P600 million next year, bringing its total equity to P1.4 billion to P2 billion by the end of September.
“And if the bank grows faster, we will invest more. So, it really depends on the growth we see,” Mr. Montemayor said.
This will be used to finance the bank's aggressive expansion, he said.
Salmon co-founder Pavel Fedorov said he expects the bank to double its key financial metrics every six to nine months.
“I don't know how long we will hold on to this, but the reality is that we will double every six to nine months, and we expect to double every six to nine months in terms of key financing and operating methods for the foreseeable future,” he said, including the bank's profitability.
Mr. Montemayor said the bank recorded a net income of P189 million in the first eight months of 2025.
He said, he expects strong growth in both deposits and loans.
“There is a lot of scope for growth there. Let me tell you that there is a rough estimate of 175,000 retail stores in the Philippines. And our product loans, which is about 60% of our loan portfolio, we are present at 5,000 stores. We expect to almost double that by next year.”
Salmon Bank had loans worth P1.6 billion at the end of September, more than double the P691 million it booked in the same period last year.
Meanwhile, deposits stood at P1.77 billion, up from P522.1 million a year earlier.
Mr Montemayor said deposit growth would be driven by its customer base expansion as the rural lender plans to launch more products and online services and open new branches next year.
He said Salmon Bank applied for an enhanced electronic payment and financial services (EPFS) license from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas in August.
Financial institutions must obtain EPFS license to offer products and services through digital channels. An advanced license allows them to enable fund transfers and bill payments, in addition to basic functions like checking balances. , AMC Sy
