Manila, Philippines — UBX, the fintech venture studio of the Aboitiz Group, will be leading the multi-sectoral initiative, ‘Digital Transformation ng Pilipinas’ (#DigiPinas), that aims to drive the accelerated digital transformation in the Philippine government to help bring essential and critical services closer to Filipinos. 

On 27 October, UBX officially introduced the #DigiPinas initiative, a multi-stakeholder advocacy group that will work closely with all relevant stakeholders towards the digital transformation of the country.

A response to the call of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, #DigiPinas is composed of platforms and solutions providers, local chief executives, policymakers, national government agency representatives, members of the academe, and people organizations. 

Together, #DigiPinas members will champion digital transformation in government, supported by enabling laws, policies, and regulations, including Republic Act (RA) 11032 or the Ease of Doing Business and Efficient Government Service Delivery Act; RA 8792 or the Electronic Commerce Act; Executive Order (EO) 170 or the Adoption of Digital Payments for Disbursements and Collections; and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) National Strategy for Financial Inclusion and Digital Payments Transformation Roadmap. 

“One of our core values and advocacies in UBX is to include everyone and even though we have come a long way towards a more inclusive Philippines, there is still much more to be done. #DigiPinas is our response to the call for an accelerated digital transformation in government to help bring essential and critical services closer to Filipinos,” said UBX President John Januszczak

The Philippines is facing obstacles in achieving digital transformation such as low digital adoption, lack of awareness, gaps in access, digital skills gap, and complex regulations. #DigiPinas intends to help the government in the development of technologies that transform everyday experiences, particularly government services and transactions. 

#DigiPinas will be identifying national government agencies and local government units that it can support through digital transformation, equipping each government partner with digital tools and solutions to bring their services closer to their constituents. 

#DigiPinas Spokesperson Mikan Leachon added, “Digitalizing government services will help reduce inequalities and inequities, as the Internet, as they say, is the greatest equalizer. But we are still far from the new digital world that we seek. #DigiPinas takes a multi-stakeholder approach to address barriers and challenges and help hasten development not only in major cities and provinces, but in rural towns and far-flung areas.” 

Manila, Philippines – Local open finance platform UBX has partnered with the Women’s Business Council Philippines (WomenBizPH) and mobile financing powerhouse SeedIn to empower Filipina women to become successful entrepreneurs.

The partnership entails the three companies collaborating in building a women-to-women (W2W) investment and lending portfolio. This will provide beneficiaries with financial tools such as investment products and credit lines to empower them in their journey to become entrepreneurs. 

The network of top women business leaders and entrepreneurs of WomenbizPH will have priority to choose and act as investors for their chosen portfolio.

Meanwhile, UBX’s SeekCap, an online lending marketplace, will facilitate the beneficiary onboarding, while disbursements and payments will be coursed through i2i, the banking-as-a-service venture of UBX, and BUx, a payment gateway.

In addition, SeedIn will play the role of the primary lender. SeedIn will connect female investors to the portfolio both from WomenBizPH and its existing investor pool. Beneficiaries can request for a loan for around PHPP300,000 or investment in a portfolio with around PHP1,000.

WomenBizPH Trustee and Treasurer Ida Tiongson said, “With the help of our fintech partners UBX and SeedIn, what we hope to do with is to be able to provide opportunities for women led businesses to get funding and hence would have a chance not only to survive but thrive.”

Meanwhile, Mylene Abiva, chairperson of WomenBizPH, commented, “This partnership with UBX and SeedIn, fortifies our commitment to support local small businesses and this extends to the elimination of gender disparity as well. Women play a major role in the country’s microeconomy, and empowering them by providing alternative financial solutions will undoubtedly make a big impact in improving the economic landscape in the Philippines.”

Lastly, Anne Yosuico, chief product officer at UBX, said, “UBX recognizes the gender gaps that hinder women from reaching their maximum potential. Thus, our vision of finance for all means eliminating these obstacles by providing women with innovative digital business tools and credit options through open finance.”

Manila, Philippines – With the goal of continuing to further tech-up Filipino businesses, UBX, the fintech unit by UnionBank that provides opportunities and access for all by building digital financial solutions for individuals and SMEs, has just recently launched ‘Sentro Build’, to enable the growing community of merchants that gather in well-known marketplaces. 

‘Sentro Build’ is the latest version of UBX’s ‘Sentro’. ‘Sentro’ is an online shop builder for entrepreneurs and MSMEs, while the new ‘Sentro Build’ provides marketplace owners, organizers, and their communities an easily customizable online marketplace.

Merchants can join the ‘Sentro Build’ via an invite to the marketplace from the marketplace owner or by applying to become a seller to the marketplace, while customers can simply visit the marketplace website to look through the merchandise.

Through ‘Sentro Build’, marketplace owners have full control over the appearance and branding of their marketplace through the platform’s easy-to-use administration features. It has a built-in payment gateway powered by Bux providing multiple payment options via over 50,000 over-the-counter channels, online banking, and e-wallets, as well as debit, and credit card payments. In addition, it has pre-integrated delivery services powered by MrSpeedy.

“There are many industries affected by the pandemic. Those severely impacted include the events, expo, and bazaar segments. Traditionally, this industry required physical gatherings which might not be happening any time soon. We have the technology that can now empower companies to create their own online marketplaces,” said Bjorn Pardo, UBX’s head for SME Ventures and Sentro’s lead for Venture.

According to UBX, the events industry was one of the hardest hit during the pandemic, and traditionally requiring mass physical attendance, events, and expos have been severely restricted.

With this, ‘Sentro Build’ has kicked off with Themes & Motifs last 24 July 2021. Behind the launch are the organizers of The Wedding Inspirations Co. and the original Philippine Wedding Expo. The virtual Bridal Fair national roadshow and its online mall dedicated to the wedding industry is called ‘The Bridal Marketplace’.

When asked by MARKETECH APAC how ‘Sentro Build’ helped Themes & Motifs transition virtually, Pardo said, “Themes & Motifs events are primarily done physically in malls and convention centers. Now with their marketplace up and running, they can virtually conduct their own bridal fair from anywhere in the Philippines. Also because of the marketplace we’ve built, customers can easily view and check out their purchases within the marketplace.”

Meanwhile, Sharon Fabian, the managing director of Themes & Motifs, shared that ‘Sentro Build’ allowed them to quickly establish TheBridalMarketplace.com, a comprehensive online mall for soon-to-weds that capitalizes on Themes & Motifs long-standing partnership with big and reputable names in the local wedding industry.

“It provided us with full integration to pandemic-friendly payment methods and a seamless connection to a product delivery system. Also, its easy-to-use e-commerce platform is perfect for our online bridal fair roadshow which showcases different wedding suppliers in different regions of the Philippines,” said Fabian.

Aside from ‘Sentro’ and ‘Sentro Build’, UnionBank’s UBX has also launched other digital platforms, namely, digital transformation package ‘i2i’, end-to-end payment platform ‘Bux’, online lending marketplace ‘SeekCap’, and technologies for visionaries ‘Q Lab’.