Sustainability in banking is often framed as a trade-off between profit and purpose. For the Ayala-led Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI), these are not separate, clashing goals, but a package embedded in every vein of the lender’s initiatives.

What, then, should sustainability look like for financial institutions? BPI is redefining what it means to be a responsible bank.

When presented with a hypothetical fresh capital of ₱1.26 billion, BPI Vice President Jo Ann Bueno-Eala—the primary architect of the bank’s sustainability transition—did not view it through the lens of traditional philanthropy. Instead, she approached the capital using a formula she has been advocating in boardroom meetings.

Eala told Manila Bulletin that BPI has long complied with environmental, social, and governance (ESG) standards. However, she did not point directly toward high-yield instruments or purely green vanity projects. Instead, she cited ESG compliance with an extra “E₂”—which stands for the economic gains derived from the lender’s initiatives. This formula ensures sustainability initiatives yield both financial returns and long-term economic value.

For Eala, the priority for a ₱1.26 billion capital injection is clear: the “social” component of ESG principles must take precedence over the green or “environmental” component.

While BPI has long been recognized as a leader in environmental initiatives, Eala notes a shift in the bank’s internal compass. “Implementation-wise, priority-wise, and results-wise, you will always see ‘social’ ahead of green,” Eala told this author during the kick-off of BPI’s sustainability month.

If handed ₱1.26 billion, Eala would funnel the capital into initiatives that target financial inclusion for the "isolated and remote" sectors that traditional banking often ignores.

“That’s actually not enough,” Eala commented straightforwardly. “But ₱1.26 billion will still go a long way in funding teachers, especially in remote and isolated areas,” she said, noting that these are populations banks typically avoid financing.

To deploy this capital, Eala said the focus would be on BPI’s agency banking model, which transforms local neighborhood shops into mini bank branches. Through these local cash-out partners, even a fisherman or a market vendor can easily interact with the bank.

BPI challenges the false dichotomy between profit and social good, with Eala actively criticizing the idea that sustainability is synonymous with charity.

She explained that the “E₂” in BPI’s formula—economic benefit—is the non-negotiable anchor of the bank’s strategy. “If you don’t have economic or financial benefit, then you go to the BPI Foundation, because that’s charity,” she said.

This unabashed pursuit of profitability is not about greed; it is about longevity.

Eala recalled a global forum where she had to justify the need for financial returns, even during climate emergencies. Her response to a pressing question from a German civic executive remains the core of her philosophy: “You cannot improve the lives of the community if you’re not making money.”

Without profit, a business cannot create the jobs or stability required to uplift a community, Eala explained. “If you are doing business and you’re not making money, you’re dead. It needs to be sustained,” she added.

“There are ESG advocates who think the goal is simply to uplift people’s lives without the underlying foundation: people need jobs,” Eala noted. “For jobs to be created, businesses have to be strong and make money. They cannot hire and provide jobs if they are not making money.”

Since providing employment opportunities is a prerequisite for sustainability, Eala questioned the skepticism around profitability.

“I don’t know if it takes a banker or a businessman to realize that you cannot improve the lives of the community if you’re not making money. You really need to make money. I say that. I shamelessly say that. We need profitability,” Eala said with conviction.

This profitability-driven approach is visible in BPI’s lending rates for micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), such as market vendors. Eala highlighted the stark difference between the predatory rates of loan sharks and the bank’s offering. While traditional “5-6” lenders charge double-digit interest in a matter of weeks, BPI offers rates around 30 percent per annum. For a vendor used to crushing debt, this shift is revolutionary.

Eala argued that more small business owners could be lifted out of debt traps if banks simply trusted them. By proving that lending to the “unbankable” is profitable, BPI ensures the program is not a finite charitable act, but a self-sustaining business model.

As domestic businesses transition to the next generation of leadership, the challenge is maintaining a core vision without diluting it over time. For BPI, the solution was to move sustainability out of a single department and embed it into the DNA of the entire organization.

This is not merely an executive whim; it is a board-approved policy integrated into the annual performance reviews of over 20,000 employees. Eala explained that as a large organization, BPI required at least 10 percent of an employee’s key result areas (KRAs) to be tied to sustainability.

This mandate drives innovation from the ground up. By making sustainability a requirement for everyone—from finance officers to marketing staff—the bank has cultivated a force of 20,000 innovators.

Institutionalizing this strategy is central to BPI’s succession plan. Eala, who is set to retire later this year, is confident that the "responsible bank" vision will endure because it is woven into the organizational culture and reinforced by mandatory training for younger leaders.

“Can I assume that that will easily be sustainable? It’s already in the DNA,” she said confidently.

An essential component of BPI’s strategy is coupling aggressive social lending with rigorous risk management. Eala noted that other institutions often falter because they try to mirror BPI’s strategy without setting up adequate risk-mitigating measures.

“What others do is they try to follow, but the risk-mitigating measures are not in place. That’s not acceptable. So when you get into something, the risk mitigants have to be in place,” she said.

BPI utilizes HazardHunterPH—a free platform managed by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) and partner agencies for disaster monitoring—to assess physical risks like flooding, fault lines, and volcanic hazards before approving loans. Eala recalled a case where a proposed multi-story condominium in Pasig City was found to be just three meters from a fault line. She emphasized that the bank applies this same level of risk screening to micro-loans to ensure projects can withstand natural disasters.

“You can go aggressive, you can lend to remote areas, but mitigants must include physical risk,” Eala said.

This technical rigor has yielded remarkable results for BPI's Sustainable Development Finance program: zero project failures and zero non-performing loans (NPLs) across more than 500 projects.

As she nears the end of her tenure, Eala is passing down this banking wisdom through educational institutions. BPI is investing heavily in the next generation by having Eala lecture high school students and young leaders, stressing that ethical standards must be set early—and that failures to meet those standards should carry clear consequences to foster accountability.

For the next generation of Philippine businesses, BPI's model serves as a call to move beyond sustainability as a branding exercise and dive into the hard work of building profitable, risk-aware, and socially inclusive institutions. As Eala puts it, the goal is to impact the nation “one family, one community, one vendor, one farmer, one fisherman at a time.”

By aligning profit with purpose, BPI is demonstrating that targeted capital can serve as the foundation for a more equitable society. In Eala’s words, the principle remains straightforward: “To achieve true sustainability, profitability is imperative.”