A digital banking trailblazer: UnionBank is Philippines’ ‘Best Bank for SMEs’

Three-time “Best Digital Bank” winner, Union Bank of the Philippines (UnionBank), was recently acclaimed as the Philippines’ Best Bank for SMEs, by Asiamoney. This latest award comes on the heels of UnionBank’s citation as the top 2 ‘Most Helpful Banks in Asia- Pacific during COVID-19”by BankQuality.com.

It also underscores UnionBank’s primary goal of using its digital expertise to extend more financial services to all Filipinos, including the strategically-vital small and medium enterprises (SMEs) who comprise about 99% of the country’s registered businesses.

UnionBank was honored for providing better funding opportunities to small businesses which are the engines of growth and innovation in the country.

“The potential for SMEs in the Philippines is huge but too many small retailers, who are unable to access the conventional banking system, turn to loan sharks. By helping bring these companies into the financial system, UnionBank is making an admirable contribution not just to its own bottomline but to the future of its country,” awards body Asiamoney said.

In the Philippines, despite the vital role SMEs play in the country’s economy, they are often under the radar, encountering various challenges such as limited access to finance, information and technology, and even the local and international market.

Data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas shows that only P6.6 billion is allocated by banks to help SMEs.

This is a key reason why UnionBank launched its dedicated SME Business Banking Group to address their needs.

Consequently, the bank was the first to launch two critical solutions to serve the SMEs: UnionBank GlobalLinker which houses various collaboration tools that allow SMEs to have access to end-to-end eCommerce solutions in a single place, and the Financial Supply Chain powered by Blockchain – enabling digitized-lending through this channel.

UnionBank president and CEO Edwin Bautista expressed gratitude for this latest award bestowed on UnionBank and vowed to proceed with their initiatives to help alleviate the country in these challenging times.

“This recognition is another testament to our commitment of harnessing technology to more quickly drive financial inclusion in the country. This pandemic emphasizes that all of us must have a higher purpose than just “profit.”For UnionBank, this greater-purpose is to extend banking and financial services to the mass market and the unbanked, via best-in-class digital and physical channels, so that they can be “digitally transformed” and future-ready,” Bautista said.