RCBC President and CEO Reggie Cariaso Profile Interview

RCBC president Reggie Cariaso portrait the chief cover — Cyrus Panganiban

The Chief is Esquire Philippines’ space for company leaders and founders. It’s a way to get to know the movers and shakers and captains of industry not just from within the boardroom, but, more importantly, outside of their collared shirts, suits, and ties. In this edition of The Chief, we sit down with the newly appointed president and CEO of the Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC) to discuss his science and military roots, his switch to the world of banking and finance, and how he plans to take the bank into the future.

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The view from the 46th floor of RCBC Plaza in Makati is pretty spectacular. The city’s high rises gleam in the midday sun, the vehicles on the streets running this way and that look like tiny toy cars, and Manila Bay sparkles way off in the distance. This is the view that Reginaldo “Reggie” Cariaso enjoys every single day. The new president and CEO of RCBC is just over a week into his job when Esquire Philippines catches up with him way up in one of the tallest buildings in the country’s financial heart.

“How are you feeling?” I open when we settle into his temporary office, which is modest by industry standards (the actual one is being remodeled, his public relations team explains). Dressed sharply in a navy blazer, crisp white shirt, tie, sleeves neatly cuffed, he projects calm purpose: soft-spoken, deliberate, with a measured tone that echoes his US Navy roots.

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“Doing okay,” he smiles, with mild amusement. “So far so good. It’s only been 10 days.” (since the announcement of his appointment).

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From chemistry and submarines to banking

Cariaso’s origin story is quite unlike most others. Born in the Philippines and relocating to the US as a kid, he studied chemistry at the University of Pennsylvania but eventually chose to join the U.S. Navy as a lieutenant in the Submarine Force.

RCBC president Reggie Cariaso portrait — Cyrus Panganiban

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“I had a scholarship that helped pave my way through college,” he says. “I chose the Submarine Force because it’s technical, and I also like the military. It gives you leadership.”

However, six years later, he pivoted completely.

Cariaso recounts potentially pursuing a career in FMCG before stumbling into finance. But a few books on banking history ignited his interest. “It was about what banks could do; the importance of banks in the economy.”

In 1996, just before the Asian Financial Crisis, Cariaso started as a first-year analyst in investment banking in Hong Kong—where crisis morphed into opportunity. “One of my first jobs was working with banks in the Asian financial crisis, doing bank resolutions, bank mergers.” That baptism by fire helped launch a near 30-year career through the halls of JP Morgan Hong Kong, Nomura, BPI—before landing at RCBC.

Cariaso joined RCBC as EVP and Head of Operations about a year and half ago. By January 2025, he became Deputy CEO, and after former chief Eugene Acevedo stepped down (although still remaining in the bank’s board), Cariaso was named CEO in July.

PHOTO: Cyrus Panganiban

“In my previous role, I was actually quite happy,” he says. “I was looking after a very fast-growing part of the industry, which was in digital payments, transactions, banking, strategy, management, and there were a lot of growth opportunities and innovations that we were doing. I was also managing a very large corporate bankruptcy, and it was a very complex and difficult transaction. It’s a story on its own. That's where Eugene Acevedo and Mrs. Dee (Helen Yuchengco-Dee, RCBC’s chairperson) kind of saw me in action.”

The opportunity to lead RCBC was something he couldn’t pass up. “That's something that really fascinated me as a real opportunity to do something special,” he says.

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Focus and goals

Cariaso hit the ground running. Having been exposed mostly to corporate and institutional banking, his first order of business as RCBC's head of operations was to understand the retail aspect of the bank. He spent months riding retail rails and operations engines—mapping the strengths, opportunities, and culture of his new professional home.

But at his core, Cariaso’s mission now as president and CEO is clear: he wants to build a digitally driven, customer-first future for RCBC.

“There're a couple of things that that I wanted to focus on,” he says. “Technology, anti-fraud, making sure our clients and the bank is secure. Third is people. Fourth is data analytics, yeah, and the technology of intelligent decision-making. The fifth is our Net Promoter Score (a metric that gauges customer loyalty and willingness to recommendthe bank to others). We want to really understand with all those stuff that we're doing to make our clients happy, and then ask, ‘Can we make them happier?’”

There’s also the focus on growing the bank, which can also mean different things. “We know we have to grow our deposit base, our customer base, and we wanted to do it with scale and in an accelerated way. To do that, you definitely need technology.”

Cariaso has also spoken about his vision of “seamless connections,” which refers to integrated channels, smarter systems, and meaningful client outcomes. “Seamlessness is also about partnerships; instead of just going by branches or footprint, partnering with organization institutions that have already established communities in the Philippines and helping them elevate their businesses and ourselves?”

A recent example of that is RCBC’s partnership with Higala, an Open Payments Platform and startup focused on building an inclusive instant payment system (IIPS) in the Philippines. It essentially enables rural banks and cooperatives to join real-time payments (in this case InstaPay) thanks to RCBC’s technology sponsorship.

“These are communities that are underserved,” he says. "And these rural banks already have clients. We don’t have to go there. We help them modernize the payments infrastructure.”

PHOTO: Cyrus Panganiban

And yes, Cariaso says RCBC is already testing AI projects in risk management, credit scoring, sales coaching, even anti-fraud. “Those are some examples of where AI is already being integrated, in our ability to look at data to make intelligent decisions so our employees can serve our clients better.”

Asked to describe the people at RCBC, Cariaso had this to say: “They’re really smart, committed, and they have a great attitude. They’re mostly first-gen college graduates, and about 70 percent come from humble backgrounds.” He pauses thoughtfully. "They really want to do something special, to help uplift their families. And I think that's a great motivator. If you could say, ‘Look, we can do something really important here. That's good for our clients, good for the bank, and, importantly, good for you.’ That’s a great way to get everyone aligned; that this is something we can all do together.”

And as for his leadership style, Cariaso sums it up simply: “I listen more than I speak. Sometimes I don’t say anything. I try to be fair. I try to make sure there's fairness and it's merit-based. Show me what you're capable of.

“I also know that part of the process is falling down,” he adds. “Every once in a while, it's part of the learning process. It's part of getting stronger, getting better. So I'm not a perfectionist, but I do believe in meritocracy and people being able to prove themselves.”

Snapshot of where RCBC currently ranks among the country's biggest banks based on key metrics, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas

Room for growth

Judging by its financials, RCBC seems to be in robust health. The bank reported total revenues of P53.4 billion in 2024, up from P49.9 billion the previous year. Net income was at P9.52 billion, down P12.22 billion in 2023 due to one-off gains in the prior year. Without those gains, however, profitability still grew by around 13.6 percent. Of course, there’s always room for improvement, and Cariaso knows exactly where he wants to see growth.

“It’s a team effort,” he says. “But we want to grow faster than the industry in areas we have competitive and strategic advantage. For example, consumer loans. And credit cards.

“But I think one of the most important areas that I want to influence is how the people—employees, the officers, the staff of the bank—really work together,” he adds. “I want all of the employees to understand clearly what our strategy is, the direction that we're going to go, because I really feel that if we're all rowing in the same direction, we can do a lot of really cool things. That attitudinal, cultural change, I think that’s something that I really would like to see as a CEO.”

Cariaso, whose life outside work, is all movement (not metaphorically), says he makes time to improve his physical health knowing how important it is to be in shape to tackle the demands of work. “Fitness is part of sustainability,” he says. “Physical and mental fitness go together… you cannot do the best for clients unless you are at your best.” For the CEO, that means becoming involved in things like running, biking, swimming, and strength training. He’s even taken up pickleball and golf.

But his focus on fitness doesn’t come at the expense of good food. He prefers “anything healthy;” think Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, Indian, Italian cuisine., and casually admits, “Every once in a while I will have a crispy pata,’ he says with a laugh.

While he is perched atop a literal skyscraper in the middle of the city, Cariaso seems to still have his feet on the ground and his nose to the grindstone. He’s also demonstrated that he is finely attuned to the needs of a still greater majority of Filipinos who find the banking and financial systems intimidating and even scary.

“If banks can serve clients meaningfully—even underserved communities—with access, security and tools—they don’t have to fear finance,” he says. “Some part of (us) has to get comfortable with it. Maybe we do it slowly, don’t jump all in. But use it where it’s convenient and learn to trust it and adapt to it."

Photography: Cyrus Panganiban
Grooming: Lilian Yeung

Chemist, Navy Lieutenant, Banker: Meet the New President and CEO of RCBC

From chemistry and submarines to banking

Focus and goals

Room for growth