Bank of the Philippine Islands

Colonial period

BPI was established on August 1, 1851, by Margarita Roxas de Ayala and her husband Antonio de Ayala, as the "El Banco Español Filipino de Isabel II" (lit. 'The Spanish-Filipino Bank of Isabel II'), named after the Queen of Spain, Isabella II, the daughter of King Ferdinand VII. It was the first government bank in the Philippines and the third Philippine bank during the Spanish era. The first managing directors of Banco Español-Filipino were Jose Maria Tuason and Fernando Aguirre. They took turns serving as managing director every year. One of the founders and primary shareholders at that time was José Joaquín de Ynchausti of Ynchausti y Cía, a prominent Philippine multi-national conglomerate who also founded Tanduay Distillery and built the Puente Colgante. José was the managing director of the bank from 1868 to 1873 and 1876 to 1884.

The royal decree establishing the Banco Español-Filipino also gave it the power to print Philippine currency, the first time the Philippine peso was printed in the country; before 1851, a multitude of currencies were used, most notably the Mexican peso. They were originally called Philippine peso fuerte (PF), or "strong pesos". First printed on May 1, 1852, they were redeemable at face value for gold or silver Mexican coins just to circulate the first Philippine currency. The first deposit with the bank was also done on that day by a man named Fulgencio Barrera with silver and gold. Three days later, a Chinese man named Tadian became the first borrowing client of the bank after the bank discounted to him an initial and foremost promissory note amounting to ten thousand pesos fuertes.

On September 3, 1869, following a revolution which overthrew Isabella II, the name was changed to Banco Español-Filipino. In January 1892, the bank moved from the Royal Custom House in Intramuros to the new business district of Binondo after it found out that Intramuros was becoming "economically inactive". It moved to 4 Plaza Cervantes corner Juan Luna Street which was at that time a prime property owned by the Dominican friars.

The first branch of Banco Español-Filipino outside Manila was opened in Iloilo City on March 15, 1897. However, the idea to set up branches outside Manila was formulated as far back as the 1850s, with the first branch planned to be opened in Bacolor, the capital of Pampanga at the time. However, by then, Iloilo and other provinces in Panay had become more productive than Pampanga in the sugar industry, hence the move to open the first branch in Iloilo.

Following the cession of the Philippines to the United States with the signing of the 1898 Treaty of Paris, the bank changed from a Spanish institution to a Philippine one. On January 1, 1912, a decision by the shareholders of Banco Español-Filipino changed the name to the present Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) or Banco de las Islas Filipinas in Spanish. The basis for the name change was Act No. 1790, passed on October 12, 1907, which permitted the bank to change its name. The bank was also fully privatised during the American colonial period.