(By Balaseshan) First Bancorp (NYSE:FBP), the bank holding company for FirstBank Puerto Rico, said it has completed its purchase of a $402 million FirstBank-branded consumer credit card portfolio from FIA Card Services N.A. and an affiliate, effective May 31, 2012.
Last month, First Bancorp said that FirstBank had signed a definitive agreement with FIA Card Services, N.A. to acquire the FirstBank-branded credit card portfolio.
Customers will not be impacted as FIA Card Services, N.A will continue to service the accounts under an interim servicing agreement into 2013, when FirstBank will integrate credit card servicing into its customer service environment.
Chief Executive Aurelio Alemán said this transaction, which increases the earnings capacity of First Bancorp, deepens its relationship with customers and enables the company to continue to expand in the markets it serves with a broader base of customers.
The company provides a range of financial services for retail, commercial and institutional clients. It controlled three subsidiaries: FirstBank, FirstBank Insurance Agency, Inc. (FirstBank Insurance Agency) and Grupo Empresas de Servicios Financieros (doing business as PR Finance Group).
The company operates in six segments: Commercial and Corporate Banking, Mortgage Banking, Consumer (Retail) Banking, Treasury and Investments, United States Operations and Virgin Islands Operations.
FBP is trading down 2.74% at $3.55 on Friday. The stock has been trading between $2.50 and $5.09 for the past 52 weeks.