By Joann Santiago, PNA and U.S. News Agency / Asian

Asia United Bank plans to apply for a universal bank license in 2013 and do an initial public offering in the next two years.

In a briefing Tuesday, AUB President Abraham T. Co said they want to strengthen their capacity first before applying for a universal bank license citing that they still do not have debit and credit card products.

“This (license) should come sooner rather than later,” he said.

Doing an IPO is a requirement for financial institutions in the country once they received a universal bank license.

AUB, which has been operating for 15 years, currently holds a commercial bank license.

As of end-September this year, the bank registered a P1.04 billion net income, a tad short of its full-year target of P1.6 billion and is a 47.55 percent jump over year-ago’s P708 million.

Income from securities trading reached P1.05 billion at the end of the third quarter this year, three-fold higher than P340 million posted same period in 2011.

Loans registered a 45 percent year-on-year growth in the first nine months this year to P26 billion against year-ago’s P18.5 billion and bulk of this came from commercial loans.

Total deposits in the first three quarter amounted to P47 billion, higher than the P34 billion same period in 2011.

“We saw markets like the Philippines, Indonesia, Brazil and Russia impressively outperform and they should continue to do so in the foreseeable future,” AUB EVP and Treasury head Antonio Agcaoili Jr. said during the briefing.

The bank currently have 102 branches around the country for the AUB alone.

It has 10 more additional branches after acquiring the Rural Bank of Angeles, Asiatrust Development Bank and the Cooperative Bank of Cavite.

Agcaoili said they also have 50 more licenses in restricted areas in Metro Manila that are yet to be used.

He also said that because of their acquisitions they have the capacity to expand in major areas in Tarlac, Pangasinan, Cebu and Davao among others.

Relatively, the bank launched Tuesday its mobile application that currently works on IPhone but is also eyed to be available to smart phones and tablets.

The app, as it is termed, will enable users to access the bank’s website as well as data of a client’s bank account.

AUB SVP and information technology head Wilfredo Rodriguez said introduction of the mobile app is in line with the trend of tapping technology for banking services.

He said the app is sale and user-friendly since it uses username and password before a client can finally check his personal account.

“We are taking the same precaution to ensure the security of our users by requiring the use of a security token, which randomly generates a one-time password that only the authorized user can use for online transactions,” he added.

AUB celebrates its 15th year anniversary this year and Co vowed to continue expanding their operations and the whole business.

” As we celebrate 15 years of innovation in Philippine banking, expect Asia United Bank to become a stronger a more formidable banking industry player in the coming year,” he added.

AUB is owned by a group of Filipino, Taiwanese and Singaporean investors engaged in property development, manufacturing, and other equity ventures.

Its major shareholder is Filipino-Chinese businessman Jack Ng, who owns Republic Biscuit Corporation (Rebisco).