UnionBank UPAY for MSME: Helping level the playing field for the country’s growing number of MSMEs

Union Bank of the Philippines 12th TalkTales: Critical Role of DigitizingPayments in Fast Evolving Market

Filipinos are now utilizing digital payments more than ever. Last month, the Banko Sentral ng Pilipinas reported that digital payments made up 20.1 percent of all transactions in 2020, more than double the figure from two years ago of 10 percent. This strong momentum is creating opportunities particularly for enterprising Filipinos who engage in e-commerce.

To help micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the country capitalize on this growing trend, Union Bank of the Philippines (UnionBank), the region’s digital trailblazer and the country’s foremost bank for MSMEs, has launched a groundbreaking feature that will make e-payments easier and secure not only for customers but also for MSMEs—the new UPAY for MSME.

This was unveiled at the Bank's 12th E-TalkTales media event, wherein UnionBank Vice President and MSME Segment Head Jaypee Soliman, and UnionBank Merchant Acquiring and Payment Gateway Head Gerry Austria led discussions on the critical role of digitizing payments in the country's fast evolving market.

Soliman began the discussions by talking about the state of digital payments in the country, citing the significant growth in the number of Filipinos who utilize these payment solutions. This is an indication that Filipinos are now more open to the idea of becoming a cash-lite society.

Union Bank of the Philippines 12th TalkTales: Critical Role of DigitizingPayments in Fast Evolving Market

Union Bank of the Philippines 12th TalkTales: Critical Role of DigitizingPayments in Fast Evolving Market

Union Bank of the Philippines 12th TalkTales: Critical Role of DigitizingPayments in Fast Evolving Market

Union Bank of the Philippines 12th TalkTales: Critical Role of DigitizingPayments in Fast Evolving Market

“This shows how the consumers are now transacting digitally. They are ready. They are there. The number of Filipinos having e-wallets and bank accounts continue to grow. But the question is, are the MSMEs ready to accept digital payments?"

This is where UPAY comes in. UPAY is a groundbreaking digital payments solution designed to make acceptance of multiple payment options accessible to MSMEs. It offers a fully integrated, single platform payment collection complete with other features that can make inbound payments easier for entrepreneurs, including the option to generate payment links with multiple collection channels, and the option to generate InstaPay QRPH for digital and physical channels.

"UPAY for MSMEs is a payment gateway that is embedded in our MSME Business Banking App. Businesses of all sizes and types now have the power to generate payment links, request payments, send it to their customers and provide multiple payment options, all these reconciled and credited to a single UnionBank account." ~Jaypee Soliman, UnionBank Vice President and MSME Segment Head

Union Bank of the Philippines 12th TalkTales: Critical Role of DigitizingPayments in Fast Evolving Market

What makes UPAY convenient for accepting payments is that customers can choose their preferred payment channel either via Unionbank Online, InstaPay, Other Digital Wallets, Credit/Debit Cards and even over-the-counter through UnionBank’s expansive network of partner channels nationwide.

"When we conceptualized UPAY for MSMEs, we wanted to do away with all the different hassles that the merchant is experiencing to set up his payments, one of which is having to connect to a point-of-sale system, having to have different devices, having to have to download different apps. Second, it's the efficiency in doing business. You don't need to be in your physical store to actually have a customer pay you. You can actually be vacationing somewhere else and someone wants to buy a product which they saw through your post on Instagram or Facebook. You can actually just create a payment link and send it to that customer, so it's very convenient for both the merchant and the customer." ~Gerry Austria, UnionBank Merchant Acquiring and Payment Gateway Head 

Through the new feature, UnionBank wants to level the playing field for MSMEs by making the feature accessible to them, which was previously only available to the bigger merchants as part of enterprise platforms that are too technologically demanding and expensive for smaller players.

For more information about the company and this article, please visit

www.unionbankph.com/msme/upay.

BAP launches Anti-Scam Campaign to promote cybersecurity

Key officials of the BAP and KBP show the heart symbol, which also appears as an "X", to demonstrate their commitment to help protect consumers against cyber fraud through the CybersecurityX program. From left, 1st row: BAP Cybersecurity Committee Vice Chair Ramon L. Jocson, BAP President Jose Arnulfo “Wick” Veloso, and BAP Cybersecurity Committee Chair Edwin R. Bautista; 2nd row, BAP Executive Director Benjamin P. Castillo, KBP Chairman Ruperto “Jun” S. Nicdao, Jr., and KBP EVP Noel C. Galvez; 3rd row, KBP President Herman Z. Basbaño.

The Bankers Association of the Philippines (“BAP”) launched its Anti-Scam Campaign, a wide-ranging information campaign undertaken with various partners that aims to promote cybersecurity, cybersafety, and awareness among the Filipino banking public.

The launch is in line with the commemoration of the International Fraud Awareness Week, which highlights the importance of cybersecurity and cyber education in the lives of citizens throughout the world.

The BAP is partnering with various stakeholders, such as social media influencers, government agencies, and the media, in its wide-ranging efforts to promote cybersecurity awareness throughout the Philippines.

BAP launches Anti-Scam Campaign to promote cybersecurity

As such, the BAP signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP) to help disseminate information on cybersecurity and data protection. A MOU signing with the Department of Justice (DOJ) will also take place, with the partnership aiming to train cybercrime enforcers and prosecutors in holding cybercriminals accountable for their actions.

“Cybersecurity is a shared responsibility. With this partnership with KBP, we are able to keep the public informed and educated on the latest trends and scenarios on cybercrime, considering the growing threats of cybercriminals. They have clearly stepped up their game as they try to take advantage of the rapid online migration of essential activities amid COVID-19 pandemic. The Philippines is currently a cybercrime hotspot, underscoring the need to increase awareness and vigilance against the increasing prevalence of cybercrime in the country. The BAP, together with its partners, will work towards equipping Filipinos with the necessary information and tools they need to stop cybercriminals from harming the public and stealing their hard-earned money” ~Wick Veloso, BAP President

BAP launches Anti-Scam Campaign to promote cybersecurity

BAP launches Anti-Scam Campaign to promote cybersecurity

BAP launches Anti-Scam Campaign to promote cybersecurity

BAP launches Anti-Scam Campaign to promote cybersecurity

BAP launches Anti-Scam Campaign to promote cybersecurity

“We believe that this collaboration project will result in a more intensive consumer awareness and education as a strong first line of defense against cyber threats.” ~Jun Nicdao, KBP Chairman

The Bank Marketing Association of the Philippines (BMAP) will also be the official partner in unifying the execution of the Anti-Scam campaign on social media by BAP’s member-banks.

BAP launches Anti-Scam Campaign to promote cybersecurity

BAP launches Anti-Scam Campaign to promote cybersecurity

BAP launches Anti-Scam Campaign to promote cybersecurity

In addition to that, the BAP launched the BAP #Cybersafe Facebook page on November 14. This aims to raise awareness on cybersecurity by urging the public to stay vigilant against various types of cyberattacks.

UnionBank opens country’s first mass retail banking hub to better support PH MSMEs

UnionBank opens country’s first mass retail banking hub to better support PH MSMEs

Union Bank of the Philippines (UnionBank) recently created the country’s very first mass retail banking hub, aimed at providing support specifically to micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the country as part of the Bank’s goal of enabling inclusive prosperity amid the current global health crisis.

Mr. Manual G. Santiago, Jr., UnionBank’s Chief Mass Market, and Financial Inclusion Executive

UnionBank opens country’s first mass retail banking hub to better support PH MSMEs

The hub, a consolidation of all entrepreneur-centric solutions offered by UnionBank, will provide a one-stop center for resources that MSMEs might need in order to support their businesses regardless of sizes—such as financing, logistics, and a buyer-seller network, to name a few—all made accessible to mass-market customers.

“I think the definition for SMEs is much more defined where we're really looking at micro, small, and medium enterprises. So, these are your businesses with, for micro, 3 million in capital, and then you have 15 million for small, and for medium, it's about a hundred million in capital. It's a large market and we think this is a segment that needs attention at this time, and we're putting our efforts into that. We've seen that in the way they apply for loans. You would think that because you have loans available that people are going to flock and apply,” Santiago said. “In fact, even those existing loans that we have that have reached the renewal stage, MSMEs would even say 'can you renew that at half the amount only, and I will just come back to you when things are better? It's a good thing because it shows a sign of maturity, and you know, in this time, you can't be very aggressive. You really need to think about your next steps to be able to survive this crisis.” ~Mr. Manual G. Santiago, Jr., UnionBank’s Chief Mass Market, and Financial Inclusion Executive

UnionBank opens country’s first mass retail banking hub to better support PH MSMEs

This was one of the topics at UnionBank’s E-Talk Tales last February 17, wherein UnionBank’s Chief Mass Market and Financial Inclusion Executive Manual G. Santiago, Jr. focused on how the Bank addresses the typical pain points encountered by entrepreneurs, especially during the pandemic.

UnionBank opens country’s first mass retail banking hub to better support PH MSMEs

UnionBank opens country’s first mass retail banking hub to better support PH MSMEs

Santiago began the discussion by first explaining what the hub’s target market is, which he defined as “the middle-middle income level going down” which is also a mix of banked, underbanked, unbanked customers.

UnionBank opens country’s first mass retail banking hub to better support PH MSMEs

UnionBank opens country’s first mass retail banking hub to better support PH MSMEs

According to Santiago, UnionBank estimates this market at about 50 million customers, with the majority of them being in the lower-income segments. In addition, about 60 percent of this customer market classify themselves as self-employed entrepreneurs. 

UnionBank opens country’s first mass retail banking hub to better support PH MSMEs

UnionBank opens country’s first mass retail banking hub to better support PH MSMEs

Santiago noted that a lot of entrepreneurs today are very careful about their decisions when it comes to their businesses, as a result of the uncertainties brought about by the current health crisis. This “wait and see” mindset is evident even in those who have immediate access to financing.

UnionBank opens country’s first mass retail banking hub to better support PH MSMEs

With its vision of empowering SMEs through digital initiatives, UnionBank has already laid a lot of groundwork even before the pandemic to address SME challenges.

UnionBank opens country’s first mass retail banking hub to better support PH MSMEs

UnionBank Business Loan via UBX SeekCap, an online Loan Marketplace where business owners and SMEs may easily browse short-term business loan products and apply digitally. SeekCap allows SMEs to get approval within hours.

UnionBank Business Loan via UBX SeekCap, an online Loan Marketplace where business owners and SMEs may easily browse short-term business loan products and apply digitally. SeekCap allows SMEs to get approval within hours.

The Bank has also created the SME Business Banking App, an online platform that enables SMEs to manage their financial transactions by facilitating all business payments with the most extensive list of government and utility billers, transferring funds to both local and international banks, customizing complex business approval flows, enrolling all companies and subsidiaries in a single-login setup, and opening and managing payroll accounts for their employees, among others. 

UnionBank opens country’s first mass retail banking hub to better support PH MSMEs

To know more about UnionBank's digital initiatives, visit https://www.unionbankph.com/

AI a vehicle for customers to achieve aspirations – UnionBank Senior Advisor for Data and AI

UnionBank of the Philippines' 6th E-TalkTales: Transforming the Banking Engine: The Art of Artificial Intelligence

Data science and artificial intelligence (or “DSAI”) are two “tandem”-technologies that are now taking over many industries across the globe. Artificial intelligence has brought about many exciting prospects that have ushered more personalized, “tailor-fit” digital experiences for many of us. This has made many of the things we do in our lives simpler, more instantaneous, and, thus, more convenient.

As Union Bank of the Philippines (UnionBank) is now in the next phase of its digital transformation journey, the country’s leading digital bank has continued to invest in talent, infrastructure, and other resources needed to innovate and co-create using data science and AI, which is led by global data science expert Dr. David Hardoon Ph. D., as the Bank's Senior Advisor for Data and Artificial Intelligence.

On the sixth installment of UnionBank’s exclusive “eTalk Tales” with Media, Dr. Hardoon discussed how UnionBank is translating data science and artificial intelligence insights into a very individualized way of banking, making sure that everyone is statistically significant and provided the ‘VIP’ treatment with a wide range of personalized services and solutions.

“DSAI is a key element within UnionBank’s digitize or perish journey. It is the differentiator between just “Digitize to survive” versus “Digitize to flourish. AI is the engine of the digital renaissance.  It is a vehicle to achieve an aspiration. It is important to anchor AI on what truly matters—people, whether customers or employees. AI is truly about being human-centric first. The purpose is us, primarily as customers, and how do we leverage the insight and knowledge that can be derived from AI to help shape financial services around us. The Bank has been introducing and enhancing countless digital touchpoints for customer ease and fluidity of engagement. These touchpoints mean exactly that, that customers engage with the Bank on a more regular basis. It is our responsibility to...imagine. Imagine the ability to provide bridging or intra-day loans without a customer's need to submit hefty financial historical statements.” ~Dr. David Hardoon Ph. D., as the Bank's Senior Advisor for Data and Artificial Intelligence

UnionBank of the Philippines' 6th E-TalkTales: Transforming the Banking Engine: The Art of Artificial Intelligence

UnionBank of the Philippines' 6th E-TalkTales: Transforming the Banking Engine: The Art of Artificial Intelligence

UnionBank of the Philippines' 6th E-TalkTales: Transforming the Banking Engine: The Art of Artificial Intelligence

UnionBank of the Philippines' 6th E-TalkTales: Transforming the Banking Engine: The Art of Artificial Intelligence

UnionBank of the Philippines' 6th E-TalkTales: Transforming the Banking Engine: The Art of Artificial Intelligence

UnionBank of the Philippines' 6th E-TalkTales: Transforming the Banking Engine: The Art of Artificial Intelligence

Hardoon emphasized that AI is a must-have to enable scalable customer-centric finance of tomorrow, today. The goal is to make finance relevant, specific, and contextual to each individual consumer.  His use of AI is not artificial intelligence but ‘augmented intelligence’. The reality is that humans are phenomenal in creativity that machines do not have. Machines may be able to replicate but it cannot originate. This, according to Hardoon, is where augmentation comes in. Data science uses insights from machines to operationalize and contextualize. “It’s not a question of ‘can we do it’ but ‘should we do it’.”

Digital transformation is heralded as the game-changer for the banking sector in today's reality and for tomorrow's necessity. The transformation is rooted in the aspiration of inclusive and resilient financial services and is about achieving a reality where ones’ moments of life are not defined around the financial products available, but where financial services and products are created to support the milestones in life. 

UnionBank uses AI to upgrade its existing strategy and accelerate further innovation, an example of which is its use as an additional layer of defense against financial crimes. AI enables the Bank to detect more instances while making sure that the existing defense and process will not be disrupted to ensure operational efficiency.  AI is also being leveraged by the Bank to predict future volume of inbound calls that can reduce some of the volatility in call management. Through AI, the cash management solutions team is provided with data-driven relevant recommendations and proposals for customers.

Data Science and AI (DSAI) enables capabilities in understanding customers' needs through their various engagements with the bank and providers and the ability to go beyond a templatized approach to ascertain relevance, suitability, and affordability.  This makes UnionBank, Philippine banking’s best in the data science and AI field.

Consistent with its commitment to making banking simpler and more inclusive via best-in-class digital and mobile capabilities, UnionBank President and CEO Edwin Bautista believe that leveraging Data and AI is a key driver to the next level of its digital transformation as the Bank continues to put the customer—both individuals and corporates, at the heart of its business.

About Dr. David Hardoon

Dr. David Hardoon is Senior Advisor for Data and AI at UnionBank of the Philippines. As part of his responsibilities, he works with various centers, groups, and units to reinforce data infrastructure and governance, behavior modeling, machine learning, and AI capabilities as well as applications in the Bank.

In addition to his responsibilities at UnionBank, Dr. Hardoon also serves as an advisor for a number of other institutions on matters related to data and AI.

He is concurrently Senior Advisor for AI to Singapore's Corrupt Investigation Practices Bureau (CPIB), where he externally advises the Bureau’s Chief Data Officer and Chief Information Officer on a digital transformation journey and strategic development of analytics capabilities and machine learning. He is also Senior Advisor for Data Science to Singapore's Central Provident Fund Board, working as an external advisor to the Board’s Chief Data Officer.

Prior to his appointment at UnionBank, Dr. Hardoon was the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s (MAS) first appointed Chief Data Officer and Head of the Data Analytics Group, and subsequently MAS’ Special Advisor on Artificial Intelligence. In these roles, he led the development of the AI strategy both for MAS and Singapore’s financial sector as well as efforts in promoting open cross-border data flow.

He also led and established the ASEAN Advanced Analytics of Ernst & Young Advisory Singapore as Director of EY Data, IT Advisory Services, and co-founded Azendian Solutions Pte. Ltd., an information management and data science consultancy between 2013 and 2017. He was also Head of Analytics at SAS Institute Ltd. Singapore from 2010 to 2013.

Dr. Hardoon is an Academic Council Member of the Global Fintech Institute (GFI) in Singapore, where he oversees the academic matters of the Chartered FinTech Professional (CFtP) Programme, which is jointly developed by the Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS), and the GFI.

He is also Visiting Faculty at the Sim Kee Boon Institute for Financial Economics at Singapore Management University (SMU) and a Board Member of SMU’s School of Accountancy Data Analytics Advisory Board; Executive Education Fellow at the Advanced Computing for Executives (ACE) of the School of Computing at the National University of Singapore where he advises on data, machine learning and artificial intelligence from concept to practice cross-industry, and Executive Education Fellow at SUSS, where he advises on fintech and AI-related teaching and research activities.

In addition, he is an Honorary Senior Research Associate at the Centre for Computational Statistics and Machine Learning at University College London.

Dr. Hardoon is a published author. He co-penned the book “Getting Started with Business Analytics: Insightful Decision-Making” and is a contributor to three other books related to data and AI. He is also a contributor to various news outfits including Singapore’s The Business Times, The Straits Times, and Moody’s Analytics.

He also regularly speaks at events and conferences, the most recent of which are speaking engagements with The Asset, the Institute of International Finance, and SGInnovate, to name a few.

Dr. Hardoon is a graduate of Royal Halloway, the University of London with First-Class Honors B.Sc. in Computer Science and AI, and a holder of a PhD in Machine Learning from the University of Southampton School of Electronics and Computer Science United Kingdom.

UnionBank Talks Digitizing Corporate Clients in the New Normal at 5th E-TalkTales

UnionBank Talks Digitizing Corporate Clients in the New Normal at 5th E-TalkTales

Last October 20, Union Bank of the Philippines (UnionBank) held the fifth installment of its E-TalkTales series wherein Head of Transaction Banking Mon Duarte discussed the Bank’s various transaction banking solutions, particularly The Portal, its all-digital banking platform for corporate clients.

 

Duarte began the discussion by differentiating UnionBank’s Transaction Banking solutions, which he defined as simply offering customized solutions to help digitize our corporate clients.  Traditional transaction banking helps manage the flow of funds by facilitating collections and payments, over-the-counter check deposits, to the provision of armored car services for high cash transaction situations, among others.

 

 

The main focus of Duarte's discussion was UnionBank's The Portal, it's digital banking platform specially designed for corporate clients. Offering a host of solutions that include bills payments, payroll, fund transfers, check writing services, merchant payment gateway systems, and credit facilities, The Portal provides corporations with all their essential banking needs in a single platform.

 

 

Knowing that each corporate entity has needs and priorities that are uniquely theirs, UnionBank designed The Portal in a way that allows it to provide utmost flexibility to clients, making it the preferred platform for those who don't want the one-size-fits-all approach of most competitors when it comes to the corporate banking solutions they offer.

 

 

Part of the flexibility offered by The Portal comes by way of various customization options available to clients. Depending on the current needs of their organization, clients can choose only the solutions that they want to avail of at the moment, and then adjust later on. To make it easier, the Bank created a number of packaged solutions based on what it thinks would make sense for clients, which they can avail of anytime via The Portal website.

 

With The Portal, UnionBank aims to make transaction banking as seamless for users as possible, and the Bank wants to make this very clear right from the moment a client starts using the platform—the onboarding process.

 

 

Another key feature of The Portal in terms of flexibility is the possible configurations for transaction approvals. With this feature, corporates will be able to establish a specific maker-checker process for each transaction made by their team members. This will give them free control over who can make which transaction, as well as the maximum amount for each transaction depending on who makes it, among others.

 

 

Onboarding is typically one of the most stressful phases of using a new platform for many corporates, since it involves learning a new set of interfaces and processes. This phase can take a few days or weeks or even a few months to finish. With The Portal, however, UnionBank also digitized the onboarding processes so that clients can get into the platform in less than a day, usually within a few minutes, with no further training needed.

 

These are only a few innovative features of The Portal. As the Bank continues its digital transformation journey, more services will become available in the coming months.

 

The Portal is not based on any third-party digital framework. Instead, it was built from the ground up. In creating The Portal, UnionBank was guided by the principle of having a simple integrated platform in order to ensure the best user experience for customers. For the Bank, providing superior transaction banking experiences to users is a top priority, and The Portal is the perfect representation of what it believes transaction banking should be.