MANILA - UnionBank on Tuesday said it is eyeing the launch of its digital bank UnionDigital this coming July.

The digital bank secured a license from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas in June 2021 under the new framework.

With digital banks, the BSP aims to boost financial inclusivity in the country by making the opening of formal accounts more accessible using the branchless platform.

"We’re projecting it will launch this July. We're expecting we’re going to hit the ground running," UnionBank's First Vice President and Head of Fintech Group Erika Dizon-Go said during the bank's open banking webinar.

She said the bank is hoping that the new financial platform would contribute largely to the entire banking business.

• BSP approves UnionBank application to create digital bank
• SEC approves incorporation of Union Bank's UnionDigital

So far, LandBank's Overseas Filipino Bank, Paymaya's Maya Bank and the Singapore fintech-backed Tonik are operating as digital banks in the Philippines.

The Gokongwei Group's GoTyme also eyes launching in mid-2022. UnoBank also said it was targetting to offer services this year.

• BSP-licensed Uno Digital Bank rebrands ahead of Q2 rollout
• Digital bank GOTyme eyes mid-2022 launch: Lance Gokongwei

OPEN BANKING

Go said UnionBank's open finance had also allowed over 1 million of its users to link their accounts to e-wallets and e-commerce platforms.

She said the bank hopes to increase the adoption further to 2 million by the end of the year.

Open banking, she said, allows financial institutions to share information with third parties relating to accounts or payments.

UnionBank will continue to find more applicable use cases such as investment companies or stock brokerages where their clients could link their accounts to invest.

"Our main objective for us is to look across the sector and see which ones are highly used by general population. At the end of the day the use cases are what drives open banking," Go said.

UnionBank had been pushing for digitalization before the COVID-19 pandemic. It earlier launched The Ark to showcase new technologies in the banking space.

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