Seabank Philippines Inc. changed its name to Maribank Philippines Inc. after the central bank and SEC approved its request to change its corporate name.
The move marks the latest chapter for an institution with deep roots. Seabank is a registered rural bank that first rebranded from Banco Laguna, Inc. in December 2021. The bank’s history, however, stretches back 60 years to its founding as the Rural Bank of Pagsanjan in December 1965. This long history provides MariBank with the existing community ties sought by new entrants into the digital financial market.
The name change follows the acquisition of Seabank by Singapore-based digital bank MariBank in April 2025. The transition received swift regulatory clearance: the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) approved the rebranding on April 21, 2025, while the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) followed suit on July 31, 2025, formalizing the corporate identity shift.
The MariBank Singapore Banking Group operates as a subsidiary of the Sea Limited Group, the powerhouse technology conglomerate and parent company of Southeast Asia's e-commerce giant, Shopee. The MariBank expansion into the Philippines signals an aggressive strategic move, leveraging Shopee’s massive user base to challenge established local players in the burgeoning digital finance sector.
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