Embracing Loud Budgeting as a Love Language this Valentine’s Day

This 2024, a new trend called 'loud budgeting' is gaining popularity, encouraging people to openly discuss their finances without feeling embarrassed. Contrary to the 'quiet luxury' trend of the past year, loud budgeting helps Filipinos be more honest about their financial situation, leading to greater empowerment in managing their money. This Valentine's Day, let's celebrate the love language of financial wellness. 

Regardless if it's Php 299 or 2,999 or 29,999, communication is key to financial wellness.

Last month, Filipino social media exploded with discussions about the ₱299 engagement ring. People were split on whether it was about self-worth or long-term financial plans, and both sides had valid points. There's no right or wrong answer here; it all depends on what matters most to you or your partner. But what can we take away from this in terms of financial wellness as a love language? It's about being honest about one’s money habits.

UnionBank gets BSP nod, becomes first and only PH universal bank to offer mobile crypto trading

Proving its status anew as an industry trailblazer, Union Bank of the Philippines (UnionBank) recently achieved another first in the industry after securing a Certificate of Authority from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to operate as a virtual asset service provider (VASP), making it the first and only universal bank in the Philippines to offer virtual asset exchange services. 

With the full VASP license from the BSP, the Bank can now extend virtual asset exchange services to a broader base of UnionBank customers through the award-winning UnionBank Online app. These virtual asset exchange services previously were accessible only to randomly selected users of the app through a limited virtual asset license. 

Tech trailblazer UnionBank is Asiamoney’s ‘BEST BANK FOR SMEs’

Digital banking leader Union Bank of the Philippines (UnionBank) has recently been awarded by Asiamoney as the "Best Bank for SMEs."

In a statement, Asiamoney lauds UnionBank's steadfast commitment to leveraging digital solutions to empower businesses of all sizes, which has earned it this esteemed recognition. 

The bank's mission revolves around the belief that with the right digital tools, any enterprise can build a more competitive, efficient, and sustainable business. 

The bank embarked on its digital transformation journey well before the onset of the global pandemic. Its groundbreaking ‘Tech Up Pilipinas’ platform was already making significant impact with the primary goal of harnessing the power of digital technology to expedite financial inclusion and cascade the benefits of economic growth throughout the Philippines. 

UnionBank and Jobstreet Tech-ing Up Talent Acquisition for MSMEs

In a bid to enable growth and new opportunities for Filipino entrepreneurs, UnionBank GlobalLinker, the digital platform of Union Bank of the Philippines (UnionBank) for micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), recently inked a partnership with online employment marketplace JobStreet by SEEK to help UnionBank GlobalLinker members attract the right talent for their business.

UnionBank GlobalLinker and Jobstreet signed a Memorandum of Agreement for the partnership wherein UnionBank GlobalLinker members can exclusively avail of two job postings for free on Jobstreet. Members must be new to JobStreet to avail of the offer.

JobStreet Philippines Country Manager Dannah Majarocon and UnionBank Senior Vice President and Institutional Segment Marketing Head Dino Velasco joined the ceremony as signatories.

With this new initiative, UnionBank GlobalLinker creates more value for its members. Aside from helping them establish an online presence to be competitive in the digital age, and allowing them to connect with potential customers, financiers, suppliers, partners, and service provides through its network of more than 350,000 members, the platform can now also give them a head start when looking for prospective employees.

Your UnionBank Mastercard may be the key to a brand-new BMW

Union Bank of the Philippines (UnionBank) Mastercard credit cardholders, this is for you! UnionBank has teamed up with BMW for a Mastercard-exclusive raffle that is sure to enhance your credit card usage.

Through this UnionBank Mastercard promo, cardholders can get a chance to drive home a brand-new 2023 BMW X1 simply by using their UnionBank Mastercard credit card!

Every P20,000 accumulated spend (from straight local or forex retail, bills payment, and installment transactions) earns five (5) raffle entries for a chance to win a brand-new 2023 BMW X1. Also, card transactions for grocery, gas, pharmacy, and utility bills have never been more rewarding, as cardholders can also win exciting eGCs through the promo’s official scratch game. Simply using their UnionBank Mastercard for every straight local or forex retail, bills payment, and installment transaction with a minimum amount spend of P200, gets cardholders an electronic scratch card for this game.

UnionDigital Bank named Best Digital-Only Bank at The Asian Banker Excellence in Retail Financial Services and Technology Innovation Philippines Awards 2023

L-R: Christian Kapfer, Research Director, The Asian Banker; Ron Puno, Chief Transformation and Technology Officer, UnionDigital Bank; and Wilson Chia, International Resource Director, The Asian Banker

UnionDigital Bank, the digital bank subsidiary of Union Bank of the Philippines, was recently awarded as the "Best Digital-Only Bank" at The Asian Banker Excellence in Retail Financial Services and Technology Innovation Philippines Awards 2023. The recognition was a testament to UnionDigital's exceptional performance, underpinned by its robust fintech capabilities, strong support from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), and extensive partnerships within its ultimate parent company Aboitiz Group's dynamic ecosystem.

UnionDigital Bank also won the Best Digital Lending Service Award from the The Digital Banker: World Digital Bank Awards 2023 last May.

UnionBank’s Selyado 5.0 Focuses on Privacy-Enabled Secure Systems

Union Bank of the Philippines (UnionBank) recently held the fifth iteration of its annual Selyado series, which focused on data privacy and security. Led by data privacy and cyber security experts from the public and private sectors, the event entitled “Selyado 5.0: Fostering A Privacy-Enabled Secure System,” aimed to raise awareness and promote privacy-enabled secure ecosystems for Filipinos, through four different activities held from May 17 to June 7, 2023.

“This year’s Selyado is all about empowering ordinary Filipinos with knowledge that will help them safeguard their data and privacy, which is invaluable in a world where threat actors are becoming more innovative in their methods of causing harm in the digital space,” said UnionBank Data Privacy Office Head and Deputy Data Protection Officer Atty. Jesse Pauline Solis, who presided over the event. 

UnionBank 1H2023 Net Income at P6.4 billion

Union Bank of the Philippines delivered a net income of P6.4 billion in the first six months of 2023, up by 6% against the same period last year.

Net revenues for the first half of the year amounted to P34.4 billion, increasing by 60% versus the same period last year.

Net Interest income grew 41% to P24.0 billion, largely attributable to the 43% increase in the Bank’s loan portfolio plus better net interest margin. Net interest margin increased by 60 bps to 5.2%. The Bank’s strong focus on high- yielding consumer loans more than offsets the impact of the rising cost of funds. The Bank’s proportion of consumer loans to total loans improved to 55% this year versus 42% last year.

The Asset: UnionBank only local bank in Asia to win “Digital Bank of the Year” 6 years in a row!

Union Bank of the Philippines (UnionBank) has consistently proven itself to be the undisputed digital leader in the country’s banking industry. Its recent win of an unprecedented sixth consecutive “Digital Bank of the Year” award from renowned financial news and research publication The Asset Triple A is proof that UnionBank has indeed established a Digital Dynasty in the Philippine banking industry.

“Digital transformation has been a mantra at the bank and what's behind its rapid growth these past years. With a strong focus on client experience, embracing innovation, and delivering better outcomes, UnionBank has altered mindsets to become the winning digital bank in the Philippines. A testament to that was its success in acquiring Citi Philippines' consumer banking business, which was completed less than a year following its winning bid at the end of 2021. With the integration firmly underway, the bank has set the stage for its next phase of growth expanding its market share and staying ahead of the competition,” said Daniel Yu, The Asset’s editor-in-chief.

UnionBank, UBX double down on commitment, initiatives to empower MSMEs with financial tools and services

Union Bank of the Philippines (UnionBank) and its venture studio UBX, the leading open finance platform in the Philippines, are doubling down on their commitments to empowering more micro, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the country. 

During the recent SME Innovation Festival held in Iloilo City, UnionBank President and CEO Edwin R. Bautista highlighted the two companies’ strategies and initiatives to democratize SMEs’ access to finance by using new technologies. 

Access to business capital is necessary to strengthen business operations of growing businesses and enable them to further expand their enterprises. MSMEs account for 99.5 percent of the total establishments in the Philippines and employ 62.8 percent of the entire labor force. Access to credit and financial services for MSMEs remains a challenge. 

UnionBank Techs Up with Globe Fleet Management Solutions

Partnership to promote better efficiency, personnel productivity in company managed vehicles.

UnionBank is known for bringing digital banking innovations that have an immediate impact to clients. On the back-end of things operational and technical innovations that ultimately benefit the clients are also what the bank constantly works on.  Union Bank of the Philippines (UnionBank) has tapped Globe Business for a partnership that will help the Bank in making the operation of their vehicles more efficient. The partnership was made official through a contract signing ceremony that took place last November 16 at the UnionBank Plaza in Pasig City.

UnionBank announces winners of GlobalLinker Linker.Store Contest

Union Bank of the Philippines (UnionBank) has announced the eight winners of its GlobalLinker Linker.Store Contest, which was launched in February 2022. This was a project under the Bank's 'Tech-Up Pilipinas' advocacy to encourage Filipino micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to digitize their business.

For emerging as champions, the eight companies are entitled to the following: free media mileage from Ube Media; 1-Day 8 Pass worth Php20,000 from UnionBank; plus, tokens/merch from the Bank. They will also be featured on BounceBack Network and Talkshop Asia, the GlobalLinker platform, and be promoted as model stores on the GlobalLinker home page.

UnionBank first universal bank in PH to offer virtual asset exchange services via mobile banking app

Union Bank of the Philippines (UnionBank) is now poised to become the first universal banking entity in the country to offer virtual asset exchange services through its mobile banking app, marking another major milestone towards future-proofing the bank while creating customer-centric solutions powered by technology and innovation. 

Through the new feature, UnionBank customers can now purchase and sell Bitcoin (BTC) directly from the UnionBank mobile banking app without the need for a third-party virtual asset wallet. This eliminates the need for multiple apps and makes buying and selling BTC easier and convenient like never before.

The new feature will be rolled out to randomly pre-selected UnionBank customers, who will be able to see the Virtual Asset functionality in their app. The launch is in compliance with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) regulation on Virtual Asset Services, with the Bank eyeing a wider roll-out in the near future.

With blockchain a major component of its future-proofing strategy, UnionBank has been hard at work in exploring new use cases for the said technology and its offshoots such as cryptocurrency. This also aligns with the Bank's efforts in expanding its footprint in the metaverse, after its first entry into the space through its partnership with homegrown NFT game Ark of Dreams last April. The Bank is also eyeing the launch of the country’s first-ever Metaverse Center of Excellence sometime in the next few months.

UnionBank completes the acquisition of Citigroup’s consumer banking business in the Philippines

Union Bank of the Philippines (UnionBank) has completed the acquisition of Citi’s consumer banking business in the Philippines on August 1, 2022. The official signing was led by UnionBank president and chief executive officer Edwin R. Bautista (3rd from left), and Citi Philippines chief executive officer and country officer Aftab Ahmed (4th from left.) They are joined by (left to right) Consumer bank head Manoj Varma, UnionBank chief customer experience officer and chief digital channels officer Ana A. Delgado, Citi Philippines country counsel Atty. Pia Lacson and UnionBank treasurer and global markets head Jose Emmanuel Hilado.

The future of business is OPEN: UnionBank discusses how Open Banking will drive the digital economy

Open banking and open finance are two models that are now slowly taking over the financial sector, with the promise of revolutionizing banking and financial services like never before and acting as "a catalyst for the new wave in financial innovation."

This was the main point of discussion during the 14th edition of Union Bank of the Philippines' (UnionBank) virtual roundtable series E-TalkTales, which took place last June 28 via Zoom. The event was led by UnionBank's Fintech Business Group Head Erika Dizon as its main speaker. 

In her presentation, Dizon explained that while open banking and open finance may differ slightly from each other—the former promotes data sharing on banking services, while the latter promotes data and capability sharing across the financial sector—the goal is the same, which is the creation of an open ecosystem.

UnionBank raises ₱11 billion in maiden digital peso bonds

Union Bank of the Philippines (UnionBank) successfully issued the country’s first-ever offering of digital peso bonds, raising an aggregate issue size of ₱11 billion. Despite the volatile rate backdrop, the robust participation from retail and institutional investors resulted to an order book eleven times its initial minimum offer size of ₱1 billion. 

A first for the Philippines, this digital public bond offering and issuance marks a milestone and the success of this Proof of Concept (POC) paves the way for future utilization of Distributed Ledger / Blockchain Technology towards more automated and operationally efficient local capital markets. The digital bonds were issued through the digital registry and digital depository of the Phil. Depository & Trust Corp. (PDTC) utilizing infrastructure powered by #STACS blockchain and which new digital infrastructure was kept interoperable with the traditional trading to clearing infrastructure of the Phil. Dealing & Exchange Corp. (PDEx) Fixed Income Market. 

Unionbank Approves Largest Number of Executive Promotons, ANA Aboitiz-Delgado Leads The Pack As Senior Executive Vice-President

The Board of Directors of Union Bank of the Philippines at its meeting on May 27, 2022, approved and confirmed the largest number of Executive Promotions ever done by the Bank with a total of 74 executive officers.

Leading the newly-promoted executive officers is fifth-generation business leader Ana Aboitiz-Delgado, from Executive Vice President to Senior Executive Vice President effective June 1, 2022. As the Bank's Chief Customer Experience Officer and Chief Digital Channel Officer, Delgado took great strides in growing UnionBank Online in terms of user base and features, transforming and re-branding of branches even during the pandemic, and creating the business models for self-service branches and Corporate Ark. She is key in the seamless signing of the game-changing deal between Citi and UnionBank last December 2021 and is now at the forefront of ongoing integration of both banks. She is a recipient of Asia's Top Outstanding Women Marketeer of the Year 2020 from the Asia Marketing Federation. With Delgado as CX chief, UnionBank was named Best Bank for Customer Experience in Southeast Asia 2022 and 2021 by Global Brands Magazine.

Union Bank of the Philippines Enters the Metaverse with the Ark of Dreams

Recognizing the explosive growth of blockchain, NFTs, and cryptocurrency globally, Union Bank of the Philippines (UnionBank), the country’s digital innovation pioneer, has embarked on a journey to become the first Philippine bank in the Metaverse, in partnership with Filipino Blockchain startup Ark of Dreams. 

UnionBank has always been at the forefront of technological innovations to empower consumers and make them future ready. It was the first Philippine bank to introduce the following that have been game-changers in the way we do banking: (1) mobile banking through wireless application protocol-enabled cellphones; (2) launch a banking website; (3) use an online payment card through EON; (4) use a chat bot (“Talk to Rafa”); (5) launch its own stablecoin (PHX); (6) introduce mobile check deposit through its award-winning app UnionBank Online; (7) opened the first fully digital bank branch in the country, The ARK; and, most recently (8) the first Philippine bank to go fully on the cloud. 

UnionBank, CANVAS.PH hold 2-day webinar to help artists, collectors partake in growing NFT market

Union Bank of the Philippines (UnionBank), together with the non-profit Center for Art, New Ventures and Sustainable Development (CANVAS.PH), recently held a two-part webinar series centered around digital art in the age of non-fungible tokens (NFTs), to help artists, buyers, and collectors of digital art gain a better understanding of how these tokens work and how they can take part in the NFT art economy.

NFT expert Migui Planas, a member of UnionBank's Digital Asset Markets Unit (DAMU), was the main speaker, sharing valuable bits of knowledge in NFT and his experiences as an NFT art enthusiast. During the panel discussion, he was joined by colleagues Jonathan Roque, Product Manager at the Bank’s Blockchain Center of Excellence (BCOE); Miguel Elbinias, Liquidity Trader at DAMU; and Cathy Casas, Head of Blockchain and API Business Group.

The conversation revolved around topics relevant to NFT artists -- the impact of NFT on the ownership and sale of digital art, how to mint a piece of artwork as an NFT, how to determine the value of their art, and the marketplaces where they can sell their art.

On day 2 of the webinar, the discussion focused on learnings shared by NFT art buyers and collectors -- how they can resell the NFT artwork that they own, how they can ensure a smooth transfer of ownership during purchase, and the various marketplaces where collectors can purchase NFT art.

Artists Jose Antonio Reyes and Ian Victoriano, among those who joined the well-attended webinars, expressed appreciation to the organizers for helping them gain a better understanding of NFTs and blockchain in general, and more importantly, for enabling them to better protect their ownership of their art while expanding their horizons when it comes to sharing them.

"It was very helpful for me as an artist. Learning about an avenue where I can focus on myself as an artist, while being exposed to a global market and seamless royalties is very meaningful. It's the future, and I'm grateful we're being taught how to adapt," Reyes said.

“The talks helped simplify NFT concepts for me. Made me want to explore the possibility of using NFTs to help advance artists’ rights,” Victoriano said.

While still considered highly volatile, the NFT art market has proven to be a very lucrative space, with some artworks selling for thousands and even millions of dollars. In the Hiscox Online Art Trade Report which was released in October last year, it was revealed that NFT art sales in 2021 for the said month reached $3.5 billion in value.

NFTs have forever changed the game for artists and collectors, and many now see them as a staple in digital art moving forward. Being the first Bank in the country to fully embrace NFTs, UnionBank believes that there are more potential use cases for them that are yet to be discovered, which is why the Bank sees the value of knowledge sharing to assist more Filipinos understand the said technology better.

Through forums like this, UnionBank and CANVAS.PH wish that more stakeholders will be encouraged to join similar discussions to educate more people about NFTs and take advantage of the opportunities available in this growing market. UnionBank also hopes to have more banks’ participation in the space to help facilitate smoother transactions, given the important role of cryptocurrency in the sale of NFT art.

"We're really happy to do this as this reinforces the Bank's 'Tech-Up Pilipinas' advocacy," said Casas. "We, at the Blockchain Center of Excellence, want to share our knowledge of blockchain technology, as the team is very much open to imparting what we know and also open to improving that learning by involving other industries in this discussion."

The webinar is just one of the initiatives of partners UnionBank and CANVAS.PH, to support artists and collectors navigate the emerging NFT art space, while boosting CANVAS.PH’s advocacy of promoting children's literacy, exploring national identity, and deepening public appreciation for Philippine art, culture, and the environment.

Balancing data collection, customer privacy enables better user experiences –UnionBank exec

Union Bank of the Philippines’ (UnionBank) Chief Technology & Operations Officer and Chief Transformation Officer Henry Aguda recently talked about the importance of balancing data collection and individual privacy and how this ensures the best experiences for customers.

Speaking at an online forum, “Realizing the Promise of AI in Financial Services for Exceptional Customer Experience,” organized by global technology company Altair, Aguda shared valuable insights on how UnionBank is able to achieve this balance, benefiting customers and its employees.

“Everything has to have a balance, between the rights of individuals—our customers; and the need for the Bank to maximize its top line -- which is, the more you know about your customers, the more you are able to influence what they procure as services from you,” Aguda said.