Do we like them?

Do we like BDO Unibank?

The Philippines' largest bank by assets: lending, deposits, cards, insurance and investment services. Based in Manila.

Our score: 5 out of 10. A big, solid bank that is useful to the Philippines, but we found little hard evidence of good deeds, and it was sanctioned over a 2021 fraud. That puts it in the middle for us.

BDO is the big one in Philippine banking. It's part of the SM Group, which Henry Sy founded. His eldest daughter, Tessie Sy-Coson, is chair, and Nestor Tan runs it as president and CEO.

The rough patch was in 2022. The central bank (BSP) sanctioned BDO and UnionBank after a December 2021 online fraud. About 700 BDO clients were hit. The penalty amounts weren't made public. BDO promised to reimburse clients, and the BSP counted that in its favour.

On the plus side, it has raised money through ASEAN Sustainability Bonds, with a P100 billion fifth issuance reported in January 2026. It also partnered with Palawan Group in March 2026 to widen financial access in rural areas. We haven't seen outside proof of the results.

Money-wise it's healthy. Philstar reported P40.7 billion profit for the first half of 2026. We're sitting on the fence at 5: a stable and important bank, but with a known security failure and not much evidence of wider good.