UB Negosyante ‘POWERS UP’ Momzilla Merchants

“Moms live exceedingly busy lives especially in this day and age, balancing their commitment to their careers and their dedication to taking care of their families. They need a quick and convenient option to pay for their purchases and/or suppliers. Going cashless is one of those options. No more visiting bank branches or lining up at ATMs just to withdraw money, all they need to do is use their mobile phones to collect payments or transfer funds seamlessly.” ~Ms. Kato Lim, Founder and CEO Momzilla PH's founder

(L-R) Ms. Kato Lim, Founder and CEO Momzilla PH's founder; Mr. Dino Velasco,UnionBank Institutional Banking Marketing Head; Ms. Audrey Pastelero, Founder and CMO.

Union Bank of the Philippines (UnionBank) continues to empower Filipino micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) by renewing its partnership with Momzilla PH to support the 2024 Momzilla Fair. Momzilla PH's founders, CEO Kato Lim and Chief Marketing Officer Audrey Pastelero, and UnionBank Institutional Banking Marketing Head Dino Velasco signed a Memorandum of Agreement at UnionBank Plaza in Pasig City, renewing UnionBank's role as the Momzilla Fair's digital payment provider.

The Momzilla Fair (taking place on July 13-14, 20204 at The Fifth at Rockwell Makati City) is the ultimate parenting experience. Budget-savvy and smart spending moms get to discover businesses and brands that cater to their demographic, and over 200 SMEs managed by moms can also bring their brand to new customers. 

The partnership with UnionBank, which began in 2023, will once again help Momzilla merchants reach their full potential with UB Negosyante. The goal of UB Negosyante is to empower SMEs by providing innovative solutions such as low-cost business accounts, a fully functional mobile application for seamless transactions, and educational seminars to promote business growth.

 

In its second year of partnership with UnionBank, Momzilla merchants will once again enjoy a full suite of innovative products tailored for SMEs.

“UnionBank stays committed to empowering SMEs and entrepreneurs through our digital banking innovations and capabilities. UB Negosyante was launched to address the needs of SMEs and to show that UnionBank is a Bank for SMEs. In addition to this, we fully support the BSP’s (Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas) call for the modernization of payment systems and adoption of digital payments within the country.” ~Mr. Dino Velasco, UnionBank Institutional Banking Marketing Head 

Momzilla Fair will also have another two exhibits this year on September 7-8 at The Fifth at Rockwell, and November 9-10 at SMX Aura, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig.

 

Union Bank of the Philippines is regulated by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas  https://www.bsp.gov.ph

For any concerns, you can contact us through our Customer Service Hotline at (+632) 8841-8600 or you may visit https://www.unionbankph.com/

UnionBank at 40: Future Forward, a leap to enduring greatness

“This acquisition further cements our position as a leading bank in the Philippines, as well as fast-tracks our growth aspirations in the retail banking segment.” ~Erramon Isidro M. Aboitiz, UnionBank Chairman

AR 2000 Championing e-commerce

Today as it ushers in its 40th year, UnionBank is globally-recognized by International Banker magazine as “already an unequivocal digital trailblazer in both the Philippines and Southeast Asia”, named ‘Asia Trailblazer Institution of the Year’ by Retail Banker International, and ‘Best Bank for Customer Experience in Southeast Asia’ from Global Brands Magazine, among many other international recognitions.

Aboitiz-led Union Bank of the Philippines (UnionBank) is widely-known to have been trailblazing many firsts in the country since it began operations forty years ago. UnionBank has always been among the first to embrace technological innovations to empower its customers into the future of banking. The Bank’s 40-year journey began with a simple vision: to become one of the top three universal banks in the country with respect to market capitalization, profits, and customer coverage.

UnionBank began building the foundations for its operations in 1981, and in just a year, became a commercial bank on January 19, 1982. A decade after, in 1992, the Bank debuted at the Manila and Makati Stock Exchanges in June of that year, and was granted a Universal Banking License the month after.

In 1994, UnionBank acquired the International Corporate Bank, which marked the first of a series of acquisitions that would strengthen UnionBank's capabilities to deliver banking services tailored to the unique needs of Filipino customers.

In 2006, UnionBank purchased 98 percent of one of the top 20 largest banks in the country International Exchange Bank (iBank), making it the 7th largest private domestic commercial bank in the Philippines.

In 2013, in line with a renewed thrust to enable financial inclusion in the country, UnionBank acquired thrift bank City Savings Bank. The acquisition enabled the Bank to expand its customer franchise and achieve its goal of financial inclusion that is also driven by sustainability.

AR 99 Financial Portal

In its thrust to promote sustainable financial inclusion, the Bank entered into its first venture into rural banking and micro-financing by acquiring a majority stake in the Cebu-based First-Agro Industrial Bank (FairBank) in 2016.

In the same year, UnionBank embarked on its radical digital transformation journey, favoring expansion through digital channels over the traditional opening of more branches, while reinforcing its commitment to deliver superior customer experience and making a promise that ‘no one gets left behind’ to promote inclusive prosperity in the Philippines.

The rest, as they say, is history as UnionBank went full throttle on its journey and continued to achieve numerous industry-firsts, gaining the reputation as the country's most innovative bank even before the Filipino mass adoption of the internet. 

UnionBank was the first Philippine bank to introduce mobile banking through wireless application protocol-enabled cellphones, the first Philippine Bank to launch a banking website, first to use an online payment card through EON, first to use a chat bot (Talk to Rafa), first to launch its own stablecoin (PHX), first to introduce mobile check deposit through its award-winning app UnionBank Online, opened The ARK—the first fully digital bank branch in the country, launched UBX—the Bank’s fintech and corporate venture capital arm, leveraging ecosystems and data to explore new possibilities to make financial services more instinctive and accessible, the first Philippine bank to go fully on the cloud, and launched UnionDigital becoming the first publicly listed Philippine bank with a digital banking license.

Capping off the year 2021, UnionBank surprised the country with the announcement of a game-changing deal to acquire the consumer banking business of American banking giant Citi in the Philippines.  Seen as the largest transaction in the local banking community in recent years.

“Our success today has been a product of looking ahead into the future and preparing for the evolution of banking. We will continue to help ‘tech up’ customers, partners, institutions in line with our ‘Tech Up, Pilipinas’ aspiration, empowering all of us to weather this pandemic and emerge more resilient than ever. Together, we can be future forward and leap to being a bank of enduring greatness.” ~Edwin R. Bautista, UnionBank President and CEO

Today as it ushers in its 40th year, UnionBank is globally-recognized by International Banker magazine as “already an unequivocal digital trailblazer in both the Philippines and Southeast Asia”, named ‘Asia Trailblazer Institution of the Year’ by Retail Banker International, and ‘Best Bank for Customer Experience in Southeast Asia’ from Global Brands Magazine, among many other international recognitions.

UnionBank's 11th E-Talktales: Addressing the protection gap in the Philippine market through embedded insurance

"You have to make it easier for the consumers to discover the value of insurance. And insurance is obvious when it is hyper-personalized and offered in a hyper-relevant context. Products are often too complicated, predicated on old sales models with corresponding jargon that inevitably develops over the years. Often, what is sold is in many cases essentially the same kind of product that my own parents bought over 50 years ago. What is equally concerning is the sub-optimal impact that the complexity has not just on customers, but conventionally, on insurance agents and advisors. Traditional intermediaries such as agents, brokers, and bank partners have only so much reach without leveraging digital. On top of this, distribution via these traditional channels requires higher value products to be economically feasible. The cause of traditional sales channels is noble, but ultimately, only economically feasible for the more affluent in our society." ~John Januszczak, UBX President and CEO

In the latest iteration of Union Bank of the Philippines’ (UnionBank) 11th E-Talktales: Addressing the protection gap in the Philippine market through embedded insurance. A discussion on how UBX's 'Assured' will make insurance more accessible and convenient than ever specially during these uncertain times. UBX President and CEO John Januszczak, Coherent CEO John Brisco, and Chubb Deputy Regional President for Asia Pacific Glen Browne discussed the ongoing insurance crisis in the Philippines and how UBX’s insurance platform Assured is helping address this crisis through embedded insurance with everyday Filipino experiences powered by innovation and co-creation.

UnionBank's 11th  E-Talktales: Addressing the protection gap in the Philippine market through embedded insurance

UnionBank's 11th  E-Talktales: Addressing the protection gap in the Philippine market through embedded insurance

UnionBank's 11th  E-Talktales: Addressing the protection gap in the Philippine market through embedded insurance

UnionBank's 11th  E-Talktales: Addressing the protection gap in the Philippine market through embedded insurance

UnionBank's 11th  E-Talktales: Addressing the protection gap in the Philippine market through embedded insurance

UnionBank's 11th  E-Talktales: Addressing the protection gap in the Philippine market through embedded insurance

UnionBank's 11th  E-Talktales: Addressing the protection gap in the Philippine market through embedded insurance

UnionBank's 11th  E-Talktales: Addressing the protection gap in the Philippine market through embedded insurance

"What we're trying to do is help insurers by making it much easier for them to bring their products and integrate them into the UBX ecosystem. So, we're acting as the facilitator between UBX and insurers so that all the data that has to interact between an insurer and UBX is as consistent and seamless as possible. If UBX is trying to think about the experience of the user, Chubb is providing world-class products to fit into that experience, and then Coherent is bringing the technology to enable that to happen, and I think that's a very unique proposition which doesn't really exist across many markets in the world." ~John Brisco, Coherent CEO

UnionBank's 11th  E-Talktales: Addressing the protection gap in the Philippine market through embedded insurance

Januszczak highlighted three possible factors that are keeping a lot of Filipinos from availing insurance products. First, he said that it's not easy for most to have even a basic understanding of how valuable insurance can be for them, which is why it's important for providers to make it easier to discover. Another problem that is contributing to the insurance gap in the country is that insurance products can be very challenging to understand. And lastly, there are also the problems related to distribution.

"With Assured, it's bringing the complexity of traditional insurance into bite-sized chunks, in a very accessible and easy-to-understand way." ~Glen Browne,  Chubb Deputy Regional President for Asia Pacific

This is where UBX's embeddable insurance platform Assured comes in. With Assured, the goal of UBX is to take monolithic, complex, and expensive products from insurers and make them more accessible. Through this, UBX also aims to provide a single platform and a single API to make it easier for solutions developers and communities to aggregate and customize protection across multiple insurance providers.

Include Everyone!

UnionBank holds virtual groundbreaking for the first-in-industry Innovation Campus.

"A dream come true and a testament to the commitment of Management and the Board to innovation as a major strategic thrust" of the Bank and its parent conglomerate, the Aboitiz Group. This is a major step for us and it is also an affirmation that even during these crisis times, there are companies who continue to invest in the future of the Philippines. The Philippine government, or one of the Secretaries, said that the Philippines can be a major hub for AI, maybe in Asia. We can certainly make this little corner in San Pedro, Laguna, the epicenter of AI, Blockchain, and all those wonderful technologies that this Bank is harnessing in order to create the future of banking." ~Mr. Edwin Baustista, UnionBank President and CEO

Ground-breaking Event of the UnionBank Innovation Campus. A virtual groundbreaking ceremony of UnionBank's Innovation Campus - a facility set as the peak of the Bank's digital transformation is a banking and fintech innovation and co-creation hub dedicated to empowering Filipino talents to create game-changing solutions leading to inclusive prosperity for all countrymen a first in the Philippine Banking Industry!

Union Bank of the Philippines (UnionBank) successfully held the virtual groundbreaking ceremony last May 26, for its Innovation Campus, a real property development that will support its innovation initiatives. The event marked a very important milestone in UnionBank's digital transformation journey, which began half a decade ago.

In addition, the campus will house various centers of innovation within UnionBank, including its institutes on Data Science and Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain, its digital bank EON, as well as the recently-launched Asian Institute of Digital Transformation (AIDT), which is in partnership with Global Learning Solutions Singapore.

Yngen Holdings President Eugenio Ynion was also among the key figures who joined the event. A long-time collaborator of UnionBank, Yngen Holdings has helped co-create many solutions that utilize the Bank's expertise in digital banking. During his message, Ynion said that the Campus is proof of UnionBank's digital leadership and unwavering commitment to supporting Filipino talent.

"We celebrate another milestone because the UnionBank Innovation Campus is also the first out of many more establishments that will be part of The San Antonio Digital Hub. Soon to rise is a structure that will not only be a testament to UnionBank’s great leadership but likewise to its commitment in making a difference to the Filipino community." ~Mr. Eugenio Ynion, Yngen Holdings President

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Benjamin Diokno and Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez congratulated UnionBank and expressed their confidence in the Bank's capability to nurture new talent and create solutions amid the pandemic through the Campus.

"Indeed, this initiative is both timely and remarkable; timely because we need to harness our talents and skills to build back better and rise from adversity, and remarkable because of the challenges brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic." ~Mr. Benjamin Diokno, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor

Set as the peak of its digital transformation, the Campus provides a digital native environment that will allow research and discovery of digital initiatives.

"This facility will be a breeding ground for cultivating new talent, evolving new products, and developing new ways to be competitive in the new economy. It is a landmark for the Philippines' relentless push towards comprehensive digitization. UnionBank has earned a well-deserved reputation for cutting-edge innovation. The Bank has also been a reliable partner of the Social Security System and the Bureau of Treasury that enabled Filipinos all over the world to participate in the government’s bond offerings despite the pandemic. The Bank has been instrumental in helping us achieve President Duterte's goal of financial inclusion and comfortable life for all Filipinos." ~Mr. Carlos Dominguez, Finance Secretary

The first-in-industry facility, which is being built on a one-hectare property in San Pedro, Laguna, will act as a hub for research and development that will further boost the Bank’s digital capabilities.