Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ: BPOP) announced that Banco Popular de Puerto Rico (BPPR) was selected as “Bank of the Year Puerto Rico” by The Banker, The Financial Times’ international banking magazine. BPPR has received this prestigious recognition eleven times since the award’s inception in 1998.

According to The Banker, Popular was selected as a result of the bank’s transformation initiatives to enhance customer experience through a more efficient commercial lending process as well as a technology agenda that optimizes ongoing in-house innovation. The Banker shares, that this year was an important one for the bank because it began the implementation of a substantial transformation program with a three-year horizon. The plan focuses on people, culture, and purpose, modernizing technology architecture and improving customer solutions. It also reported that additionally, in 2022 the bank saw its best results in its history, including a record annual net income of $1.1bn which was $168m higher than 2021.

Ignacio Alvarez, President and CEO of Popular, Inc., shares, “Popular’s purpose is to put people at the center of progress. Recognizing the pace of change in the financial sector, we have embarked on an ambitious transformation designed to embed ourselves more deeply in our customer’s lives, enhance value through personalized experiences and modernize our technology platform to enable greater agility, innovation, and performance.”

This year marks Banco Popular’s 130^th anniversary. “It is thanks to the hard work and dedication of all our employees that we continue to build a bright future for Popular,” Alvarez acknowledged. The bank also achieved a significant milestone in Puerto Rico, adding more customers and now has more than two million unique customers.

The Banker is a financial intelligence magazine, founded in 1926, and provides international bank ratings. Recognized as the industry standard for banking excellence, The Banker’s Bank of the Year award is contested by the world’s leading financial institutions, with winners chosen across Africa, Asia-Pacific, Central & Eastern Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, North America, and Western Europe. The Banker made awards in 140 countries and received more than 400 submissions. According to the publication, these trailblazers from across the global banking industry have proven their mettle in the face of serious economic headwinds and market volatility during the past year, developing innovative products and services, modernizing their infrastructure, and delivering bottom line results. This marks the 25^th year of the rankings.

About Popular, Inc.

Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ: BPOP) is the leading financial institution in Puerto Rico, by both assets and deposits, and ranks among the top 50 U.S. bank holding companies by assets. Founded in 1893, Banco Popular de Puerto Rico, Popular’s principal subsidiary, provides retail, mortgage and commercial banking services in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Popular also offers in Puerto Rico auto and equipment leasing and financing, investment banking, broker-dealer, and insurance services through specialized subsidiaries. In the mainland United States, Popular provides retail, mortgage and commercial banking services through its New York-chartered banking subsidiary, Popular Bank, which has branches located in New York, New Jersey, and Florida.

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