Over 1,100 small business owners, entrepreneurs and corporates attended a recent webinar on business transformation in the midst of a pandemic, organized by Union Bank of the Philippines (UnionBank) in partnership with Tech Up Pilipinas, the Distributed Ledger Technology Association of the Philippines, UBX and UnionBank GlobalLinker.
In the webinar titled “Digitize and Survive,” UnionBank shared how small and medium enterprises can harness technology to transform in order to stay afloat in the new normal prompted by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak.
The forum is the first in a 4-part Tech Up series that aims to help companies evolve in simple, easy ways – at almost no cost.
UnionBank leaders shared insights on the pressing need for enterprises to fast-track digital transformation.
“Many organizations, large, small and of medium-scale, have realized that investing in resiliency is going to be a lot more important going forward,” said UnionBank chairman Justo Ortiz. “We don’t want the idea of digital transformation to be just a Business Continuity Plan. Clearly, there is a lot of opportunity for digital to be mainstream in our new normal.”
Henry Aguda, UnionBank chief technology and operations officer and chief transformation officer as well as chairman of the bank’s fintech subsidiary UBX, narrated UnionBank’s transformation journey and its collaboration with fintechs.
Aguda discussed the importance of investing in technology to develop new bank products and solutions that will address the evolving needs of customers.
UnionBank’s Fintech Group introduced various digital tools and platforms for enterprises including the business banking platform The Portal, SME platform GlobalLinker, API Marketplace, and SME products and services of UBX such as Sentro and Bux.
The Portal, UnionBank’s premier corporate banking platform, helps businesses digitize through real-time transfers, simplified payments and supplier management, easier collections through mobile check deposits, digital self-onboarding, and multiple account management.
UnionBank GlobalLinker serves as a one-stop-shop for financial solutions, connecting with potential partners, and free use of web building tools.
Meanwhile, the API Marketplace (developer.unionbankph.com) gives access to application programming interfaces (APIs) to tap existing functionalities of the bank or other fintechs, such as authentication, payments, fund transfers and verification, among others.
On the other hand, SME platforms of UBX make doing business easier such as online MSME marketplace SeekCap for business loans, Bux’s payment solutions including over 50,000 over-the-counter branches, and Sentro where businesses can set-up an online store and make use of upcoming features such as logistics.
The next installment of the Tech Up 0-1-2-3 webinar series, featuring UnionBank’s business solutions in collaboration with its fintech partners, is slated for May 27.
