After making headlines in May of last year for being named ‘second most helpful bank in Asia-Pacific during the coronavirus crisis’, Union Bank of the Philippines (UnionBank)’s trailblazing initiatives show no signs of stopping as the new year has begun.
The unprecedented year of 2020 highlighted the Bank’s journey from providing help for Filipinos to survive the pandemic and how it has created a better digital normal for everyone.
This helpfulness was evident in UnionBank’s commitment to ensuring that its essential banking services remained accessible and reliable 24/7 during the enhanced community quarantine period, a time when uncertainties ran rampant and the needs of customers could change at any time.
The Bank helped the government in the disbursement of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD)’s Social Amelioration Program (SAP) cash assistance to 700,000 beneficiaries amounting to P4.9 billion. It also assisted partner Local Government Units (LGUs) in the distribution of cash or loan proceeds to constituents.
It has also helped countless micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) digitize amid the pandemic. UBX, the Bank’s fintech spinoff, signed up more than 140,000 MSMEs across its platforms namely i2i, BUX, Sentro, and SeekCap. Its MSME platform GlobalLinker’s user base is not at more than 50,000.
Another sector of society that UnionBank was able to assist especially at the height of the pandemic were teachers, with the help of its thrift bank subsidiary CitySavings Bank. CitySavings has extended a total of P26.1 billion in teachers’ loans, P3.2 billion in motorcycle loans, and 2.9 billion in MSME loans to beneficiaries.
All these efforts did not go unnoticed as the Bank garnered multiple recognition from international bodies including IDC’s overall distinction as 2020 Asia/Pacific Digital Trailblazer, UBX as 2020 Fastest Growing Fintech Company of the Year in South East Asia by UK-based Global Brands Magazine, CitySavings as Fastest Growing Savings Bank Philippines by Global Business Outlook and ‘Bank of the Year 2020’ in the Philippines by The Banker for “outshining its peers in terms of performance, strategic initiatives and response to the pandemic”, among many.
“With a challenge as massive as the COVID pandemic, technology is just a means to an end and not an end in itself. Ultimately, it is our UnionBank DNA that is now ‘Digital to the Core’ that is pulling us through. We remain steadfast in our commitment to ‘Tech Up, Pilipinas’ and enable inclusive prosperity making sure that NO ONE, not our customers, not our colleagues, not our countrymen, GETS LEFT BEHIND,” said UnionBank President and CEO Edwin R. Bautista.
UnionBank has begun the next major phase in its digital transformation journey, going full-speed ahead from merely displaying its resilience in the face of an unprecedented global health crisis, toward a renaissance in innovation and co-creation.
“This is really the time wherein, together, we can usher in a renaissance in the area of banking and technology. It’s an area where the Philippines can not only be a fast follower but can actually be a trailblazer in the banking world. As we line up new features in our digital channels and Tech Up especially more of our underbanked and unbanked countrymen, we aim to move full throttle in 2021 with the end in view of achieving a bank of enduring greatness,” Bautista said.
