Bankard is one of the largest credit card

Credit card

A credit card is a small plastic card issued to users as a system of payment. It allows its holder to buy goods and services based on the holder's promise to pay for these goods and services...

 issuers in the Philippines

Philippines

The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

, issuing VISA

VISA (credit card)

Visa Inc. is an American multinational financial services corporation headquartered on 595 Market Street, Financial District in San Francisco, California, United States, although much of the company's staff is based in Foster City, California. It facilitates electronic funds transfers throughout...

, MasterCard

MasterCard

Mastercard Incorporated or MasterCard Worldwide is an American multinational financial services corporation with its headquarters in the MasterCard International Global Headquarters, Purchase, Harrison, New York, United States...

, JCB

Japan Credit Bureau

Japan Credit Bureau is a credit card company based in Tokyo, Japan. Its English name is .Founded in 1961, JCB established dominance over the Japanese credit card market when it purchased Osaka Credit Bureau in 1968, and its cards are now issued in 20 different countries...

 and CUP credit cards. It also issued its own line of credit and debit

Debit card

A debit card is a plastic card that provides the cardholder electronic access to his or her bank account/s at a financial institution...

 cards in the 1990s.

About Bankard

Bankard, Inc. is a pioneer in the credit card industry with 25 years of experience in card issuing and acquiring tucked under its belt. Celebrating its silver anniversary in the year 2007, the company entered another milestone in its existence on the same year with the re-branding of its cards from Bankard to RCBC Bankard - the culmination of Bankard's coming together with banking industry stalwart Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC) that began in the year 2000 and concluded last December 2006 with the sale of the entire Bankard business and all of its assets to RCBC.

In terms of card features, Bankard is known for being the first card company to launch a catalog-free Rewards Program and a simplified, no-hassle installment conversion feature that allows cardholders to convert their retail purchases to installment just by calling the RCBC Bankard Customer Service. Cardholders can likewise avail themselves of flexible and easy-on-the-pocket installment packages through the RCBC Bankard Installment facility that also includes 0% interest installment.

History

Bankard, Incorporated was organized by Philippine Commercial International Bank, or PCI Bank on December 4, 1981 as the Philippine Commercial Credit Card, Inc.. (PCCCI) to operate a domestic credit card operation. It started full commercial operations in June 1982. PCCCI's affiliation with PCIBank gave it the distinction of being the first credit card in the Philippines issued by a commercial bank. In July 1992, PCCCI changed its name to Bankard, Inc..

On June 20, 1991, PCIBank was granted a license by MasterCard International to issue credit cards in the Philippines accepted by the MasterCard network of affiliated banks and establishments worldwide. In 1994, PCIBank turned over the management and ownership of the MasterCard portfolio, both for the issuing and acquiring business, to Bankard, Inc.

In March 1995, Bankard, Inc. was publicly listed in the Philippine Stock Exchange, becoming the first credit card company to be listed in the Philippines, and only the second to achieve this distinction in the Asia-Pacific region.

Also in March 1995, Bankard, Inc. became the first credit card company to offer both dollar (PCIBank MasterCard) and peso (Bankard MasterCard) payment billing options.

In May 1995, Visa International granted Bankard, Inc. the license to acquire merchant billings and to issue credit cards carrying the Visa brand.

When PCI Bank merged with Equitable Bank to form Equitable PCI Bank

Equitable PCI Bank

Equitable PCI Bank was one of the largest banks in the Philippines, being the third-largest bank in terms of assets. With PCI Bank the largest bank before it was overtaken by Metrobank in 1995. It is the result of the merger of Equitable Banking Corporation and Philippine Commercial International...

, the new Equitable PCI chose to keep Equitable Bank's credit card arm, Equitable CardNetwork, rather than to incorporate Bankard into Equitable's credit card operations. Bankard was then sold in May 2000 to the Yuchengco Group of Companies, best known as the owners of the Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation

Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation

The Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation was established in 1960 as a development bank and is licensed by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas for both commercial and investment banking...

, or RCBC. RCBC's credit card operations, RCBC Card, were subsequently merged into Bankard, forming the current company. Through RCBC Card, Bankard also started issuing JCB

Japan Credit Bureau

Japan Credit Bureau is a credit card company based in Tokyo, Japan. Its English name is .Founded in 1961, JCB established dominance over the Japanese credit card market when it purchased Osaka Credit Bureau in 1968, and its cards are now issued in 20 different countries...

 cards

Bankard today is two-thirds owned by the Yuchengco Group of Companies and is an affiliate of RCBC. However, this is set to change after the Yuchengco Group of Companies accepted a buyout offer from GE Consumer Finance

GE Consumer Finance

GE Money is part of GE Capital operating division of General Electric. The division, headquartered in London, claims 130 million global customers and offers a range of financial products, including private label credit cards, personal loans, bank cards, auto loans and leases, mortgages, corporate...

for an undisclosed price, subject to stockholder approval. In the past, YGC had sought to nullify its acquisition on the grounds that it paid Equitable PCI Bank too much.