Philippine Veterans Bank's head of consumer relations to talk about banks' readiness for BSP's new regulations

Mike Villa-Real will share his insights at the 2016 Retail Banking Forum.

Miguel Angelo “Mike” C. Villa-Real is currently Vice-President & Head of Corporate and Consumer Relations Division at Philippine Veterans Bank, a mid-sized private commercial bank, where he has served for the last 13 years. Mike has been in-charge of the Bank’s Advertising, PR, Customer Service, Media Relations, Consumer Affairs, Product Marketing and Corporate Social Responsibility Programs. Prior to this, he was Corporate Communication Manager at the Bank of the Philippine Islands, where he also managed BPI Foundation Inc. 

We interviewed Villa-Real to learn more about what he will bring to the table at the Manila leg of the Asian Banking and Finance Retail Banking Forum.

What are your previous experiences and positions held that contributed to who you are as a banker today?
I’ve worked in a Big bank and a medium-sized bank in the Philippines and I’ve learned that each poses their own strengths, opportunities, weaknesses and threats, that both have their own unique advantages and disadvantages especially when it comes to Marketing Communications, Branding and Service.

That has helped me in being strategic in designing our programs in this very competitive industry.

What are your key business philosophies?
Consistency of your behavior and what you say as a leader. I also believe that businesses should have at least one social responsibility project that impacts lives, preferably one that engages it’s employees. It’s not only good for the beneficiaries, it’s also good for your people.

Can you give us a glimpse of what you will talk about at the Asian Banking and Finance Retail Banking Forum?
In 2014, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) issued regulations on Financial Consumer Protection Regulations which have a significant impact on Philippine Bank’s policies, systems and processes.

While the spirit and intent behind these regulations is commendable and laudable, how to implement these regulations would pose significant challenges for many of the Banks. This new regulation also brings new audit rating system for Banks on Financial Consumer Protection that have serious implications should the Bank fall short of the standards. The BSP gave the Banks one year to prepare and this ended on December 2015. Are the Banks ready?