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Tag: Union Bank

  • Union Bank Chosen as Citi’s Preferred Philippines Bidder

    Union Bank Chosen as Citi’s Preferred Philippines Bidder

    Citigroup has reportedly selected the Union Bank of Philippines as its preferred bidder for its consumer banking assets in the country.

    Citi has chosen Union Bank as its preferred bidder for a potential sale valued at an estimated $1 billion, according to a report citing unnamed sources.

    Talks are still ongoing and no conclusive decisions have been made with other bidders still interested.

    Other reportedly interested bidders for the Philippines consumer banking assets include BDO Unibank, Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. and Bank of the Philippines Island.

    The sale is part of Citi’s broader plan to exit from 13 markets where it lacks scale and focus its wealth efforts around hubs in Hong Kong, London, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates.

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  • Philippines’ Union Bank Opens Fintech HQ in Singapore

    Philippines’ Union Bank Opens Fintech HQ in Singapore

    Union Bank’s fintech subsidiary UBX is expanding its operations in Singapore as it eyes growth in Asia.

    UBX, the financial technology venture studio and fund of Union Bank, hopes its Singapore headquarters will be a bridge for startups to enter the Philippine market, according to an announcement on Tuesday.

    Operations will be led by Singapore country head Cryus Cruz, who joined UBX five months ago after over three years at Tokio Marine Insurance Group, where he was regional manager of digital strategy and its innovation lab. He also brings experience from stints at Chubb, Axa, AIG and J.P. Morgan.

    UBX cited the wealth of start-ups and deep fintech talent pool as among the reasons why it is launching in the city-state. It also noted the rapid rise of fintech in financial transactions, and the «significant growth» UBX ventures are experiencing, fueled by the coronavirus pandemic.

    UBX has strategically set up an office here to contribute to, and benefit from the established ecosystem. This will not only expand our network, it’ll also help us learn from different companies in the country, Cruz said.

    UBX previously partnered with the Monetary Authority of Singapore in its Business Sans Borders (BSB) project.

  • First Blockchain-Based Remittance in Philippines Completed

    First Blockchain-Based Remittance in Philippines Completed

    Major Philippines lender Union Bank has completed the first-ever blockchain-based remittance in the nation from OCBC in Singapore.

    The bank reportedly used an Ethereum-powered liquidity management system alongside its own proprietary i2i platform to complete the transaction from OCBC as a pilot. The funds were remitted to an account holder at Cantilan Bank in Surigao del Sur, a southeastern province.

    Chief fintech officer of the Monetary Authority of Singapore Sopnendu Mohantynoted that the city-state’s regulator had been exploring blockchain-based payments since 2016.

    We are excited to see this potential being realized, with cross-border payments that are cheaper, faster, and safer through the i2i network, he said.

    Rural banks have limited access to financial networks and a lag for remittances to be credited—five to seven days. Non-bank remittance counters offer faster execution but at a higher and sometimes unbearable cost for the relevant market segment.

    On the other hand, the crypto-based platform which the aforementioned banks used, Adhara, allows users to settle real-time payments at low cost and high efficiency by tokenizing assets and smart contracts on an Ethereum-based ledger.

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