Bux, the payment gateway of UBX (the fintech arm of UnionBank of the Philippines, Inc.), now allows merchants to accept payments made through GrabPay, Grab’s in-app digital wallet.
“The whole idea is to allow entrepreneurs to receive payments and make transactions on a digital platform in the safety of their homes,” said Bux in an e-mail to BusinessWorld. “Usage of the platform was organically accelerated and made more valuable during the pandemic, because … there was an emphasis on no-contact transactions.”
Launched in December 2019, the e-commerce payment gateway was designed to support small- and medium-sized entrepreneurs, with options to scale.
“Anytime a consumer decides to enter into the informal economy as an occasional seller, Bux has the tools to enable that,” the company said. “Bux’s connection with UBX ventures can also enable higher-level entrepreneurial engagements… all the way to enterprise-level solutions.”
Apart from GrabPay, BUX’s other payment partners include UnionBank, 7-11, GCash, VISA, and ecPAY. Transaction fees are from P10+2% to P20 per transaction for e-wallets and over-the-counter transactions, respectively. A buy now, pay later option with a 1.5% transaction fee is also available.
“The market of UBX ventures is currently local, but all the tools that the UBX venture suite provides … are easily replicable in other economies once the relevant cross-border regulatory frameworks are set in place,” Bux told BusinessWorld. “But for now, even as the market is limited to the Philippine setting, we are constantly looking for new ways and developing features that will help our customers make the journey from users of the payment gateway to becoming enterprise accounts.” — Patricia B. Mirasol
