UnionBank takes step closer to becoming first digital bank
Union Bank of the Philippines is set to double the share of digital transactions to about 80 percent as it steps up efforts for digital branch banking.
UnionBank president Edwin Bautista said the Aboitizled bank is upping the ante for digital transactions that currently account for 44 percent of the total banking transactions.
Bautista added UnionBank is also looking at raising is customer base to about 50 million from the current level of three million.
“Well, when we reach the magic number of 80 (percent), we can now consider ourselves a digital bank. That is more or less the yardstick that you are more digital than anything,” he added.
He explained the launch of more digital bank branches dubbed as “The ARK” under the bank’s branch-banking transformation digitizes transactions for customers.
He said the ARK’s primary purpose is to make it easier for existing customers to migrate to digital banking in a safe and convenient manner.
Bautista said the “digital concerns” turn out to be UnionBank’s best customers based on a 4-6-12 formula.
He explained the digitized customers are likely to have four times the deposits, perform six times more transactions, and end up 12 times more profitable than the average bank customer.
Ana Delgado, chief user experience officer at UnionBank, said the bank’s accomplishment would not have been possible without the support of The ARK’s partners.
“This is a product of our collaborative efforts with our partners. Their broad capabilities and expertise greatly contributed to the world-class, superior innovation of The ARK,” Delgado said.
With no bank tellers, “The ARK” is manned by ambassadors who are knowledgeable and capable of processing customer transactions and introducing new, tailor-fit UnionBank products to its customers.
It has various spaces for customers to sit down and execute transactions, view and interact with screens enabled by augmented or virtual reality.
Spearheading Banking 3.0 or “Branch-Banking Transformation” by moving from transactional spaces to interactional and experiential spaces, The ARK aims to provide the right combination of friendlyphysical and efficiently-digital experience to make it a preferred “third space” – an oasis destination before, during and after regular work hours – of its customers.
At the forefront of digital branch banking, The ARK digitizes branch transactions for customers including product application. Customers fill out their transactions via a tablet handed to them, and receive digital transaction receipts through email or SMS.
This cuts down the turnaround time to process transactions especially in account opening from an average of one hour to an average of 15 minutes, according to Delgado.