How UnionBank Embraces the Blockchain

With the blockchain revolutionizing the finance sector, UnionBank is one of the first to get in line to embrace this new technology.

FinTech and UnionBank

Visa created a cross-border payment system built on the blockchain, the Visa B2B Connect, and UnionBank will be one of the first banks to try this system. The Visa B2B Connect can transfer funds within 24 hours. This is a speed faster than the usual 3 to 5 business days using conventional channels. Another improvement is lower transaction costs.

“At the start, we said we need to defend ourselves against the fintechs that will be encroaching on our space, then it dawned on us that “Hey, this is an opportunity to enter a new market for us.” At the same time, we help the economy, we help the country.” – Mr. Edwin Bautista, President and CEO, UnionBank

Read more: Visa Partners with UnionBank to Build a Blockchain-Based Payment System

UnionBank’s The Ark

UnionBank fully embraced the new technology with the launch of The Ark. The Ark is a bank branch that hands an iPad instead of the usual paper slips. Customers can also experience a car or a house before they can get a loan with the help of virtual reality.

With the bank’s digital pivot, it is also “retooling” its workforce by training them on things like coding. This practice will equip them to better adapt to digital banking.

Employees who are not yet ready to face the bank’s technological transformation may have to be moved to the bank’s subsidiaries.

“When you look at some of the rural banks that we have been buying, a lot of that would still be face to face when we got out there in the provinces.” – Mr. Edwin Bautista, President and CEO, UnionBank

UnionBanks plans to open 10 more digital banks like The Ark in the Philippines this year.

Source: News ABS-CBN