UnionBank of the Philippines, known as UnionBank, is one of the largest and most innovative banks in the Philippines. Originally established in 1968 as Union Savings and Mortgage Bank, it’s now a full-service commercial bank offering a wide range of financial products and services to individual and corporate customers.

UnionBank is known for its strong focus on digital banking and technology innovation. In recent years, the bank invested heavily in developing its digital platforms, winning numerous awards for its mobile banking app, online banking services, and other digital initiatives.

The Challenge

Due to limited reach, technological limitations, and new government compliance initiatives such as the rollout of the national ID, the UnionBank of the Philippines had trouble offering digital banking services and expanding their customer base.

  • Limited Reach: To counteract its limited reach, UnionBank is working to expand its physical branches by investing heavily in their digital channels for retail, SME, and corporate banking.
  • Limited technology and image processing: UnionBank is now working to improve its expertise in this area by leveraging existing identity verification technologies and vendors.
  • Digital ID: While UnionBank is ready to pilot the rollout of the national ID in the Philippines, having a digital ID is still way down in the future for now. Known for engaging the government in piloting a lot of initiatives, there is little doubt that UnionBank will be ready for it when the time comes.

Solution & Results

The biggest benefit that Onfido provided for UnionBank of the Philippines is the ability to onboard new customers quickly and remotely, without the need for them to physically visit a branch. With this solution, UnionBank expanded their customer base and improved their experience by offering mobile-first self-service. Additionally, digital identity verification has helped UnionBank meet regulatory compliance requirements for identity verification while minimizing the risk of fraud and ensuring the security of customer data.

What’s next?

Going forward, UnionBank will continue to focus on expanding their customer base through digital and physical channels, and leverage existing technologies to overcome their technological limitations. Additionally, UnionBank is likely to continue engaging with the government to pilot new initiatives and prepare for the rollout of the national ID when it becomes available.

“On our path towards becoming a digital-first bank, Onfido has been an invaluable partner, helping UnionBank of the Philippines to leverage the power of digital identity verification and move closer towards achieving our goal of providing seamless, mobile-first banking services to our valued customers.”

AJ Atienza, SVP Digital Channels Head, Customer Experience Group, UnionBank of the Philippines