Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) said it is now offering clients yuan-denominated savings and time deposit accounts, one of a few major banks offering the Chinese yuan currency products.

In a statement released over the weekend, BPI said it has timed its opening of yuan or Renminbi products in the first week of the new Chinese New Year of the Metal Tiger.

BPI’s yuan products include an interest-earning passbook savings account and time deposit, which will be open for select BPI branches.

“BPI’s yuan savings account aims to address the need to safe keep yuan denomination as the Philippine-China economic partnership continues to grow in the domestic market,” said BPI. The bank said offering Chinese yuan will “further strengthen its foreign currency offerings to clients.”

The Chinese yuan is the eighth currency available in BPI. Other currency deposit products are US dollars, Japanese yen, euros, British pounds, Australian dollars, Canadian dollars, and Swiss francs. Foreign currency deposits are available in over 50 BPI branches nationwide.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) expects the banking sector’s Chinese Chinese yuan transactions to grow this year in anticipation of expanded trade between China and the Philippines.

Last year, banks yuan transactions amounted to CNY 174.6 million from only CNY 50,000 in 2008.

Renminbi business is expected to grow as “more banks become acquainted with the business opportunities in the Chinese currency,” said the BSP.

There are now six local banks offering Renminbi deposit products, including Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co. and Philippine National Bank.