The Bank of the Philippine Islands is a universal bank in the Philippines. It is the first bank in both the Philippines and Southeast Asia. It is the fourth largest bank in terms of assets, the second largest bank in terms of market capitalization, and one of the most profitable banks in the Philippines. The bank has a network of over 900 branches in the Philippines, Hong Kong and Europe, and more than 3,000 ATMs and CDMs. BPI was founded during the Spanish colonial era of the Philippines as El Banco Español Filipino de Isabel II. It provided credit to the National Treasury and printed and issued the Philippine peso fuerte, a precursor to today's Philippine peso. Wikipedia