Gov’t should double down on open finance to hasten financial inclusion goals – ECCP-SCOFFI

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The government ought to double down its initiatives on open finance, as it races to achieve its financial inclusion goals this year, according to the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines’ (ECCP) Special Committee on Open Finance and Financial Inclusion (SCOFFI).

As the new administration assures that it will prioritize digital transformation on a national scale, the ECCP-SCOFFI believes that it is high time that the government places more premium on the development of policies and the rollout of more open finance initiatives in the country.

Open finance allows industry players to create customer-centric products and provide better access to critical financial services such as savings, insurance, and credit. This year, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) aims to bring at least 70 percent of adult Filipinos into the formal financial system, but as of 2022, 47 percent of the population remains unbanked.

“With multiple economic crises at present and a looming global recession ahead of us, financial inclusion should be emphasized now more than ever. The inclusion of multiple economic sectors in the Philippines is crucial, especially considering that we are still recovering from the impact of COVID-19 and many challenges are already being posed by the circumstances in the post-pandemic era. As staunch advocates of inclusivity, we at ECCP-SCOFFI vow to support the government’s endeavors towards financial inclusion and open finance,” ECCP-SCOFFI Chairman John Januszczak said.

Januszczak, who also sits as president of UBX, the leading open finance platform in the Philippines, added that open finance can help in rebuilding the economy by strengthening digital businesses.

He cited a Google and Temasek study that predicted that the Philippine digital economy, currently valued at $20 billion, is expected to maintain an upward trajectory to as much as $150 billion in the next decade.

“This trend highlights the urgent need for the government to accelerate its digital transformation initiatives to maximize the potential of the digital economy. Digital finance will be the bedrock of digital transactions. Through open finance, we can help reduce finance and even social inequalities in the Philippines,” Januszczak said.

Under Januszczak’s leadership, the UBX supported the government’s open finance initiatives through several projects.

Digital Transformation ng Pilipinas (DigiPinas), a UBX-led multisectoral initiative for digital transformation in the government, was launched in 2022. DigiPinas aids the government in crafting policies related to digital transformation, geared towards solving age-old problems such as low digital adoption, lack of awareness, gaps in access, digital skills gap, and complex regulations.

DigiPinas also helped in bringing ​​digital solutions to the national and local governments, especially those that are in the far-flung and rural municipalities.

UBX also launched last year Project Kasama sa Lahat with the Philippine Postal Corp. (PhilPost), which is currently transforming hundreds of its post offices nationwide into modern hubs that offer financial and data services to far-flung areas.

In addition to widening its geographic scope, open finance also seeks to benefit the micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), which include sari-sari stores, carinderia, and fish stalls that rely on loans to sustain their businesses.

Moreover, UBX’s SeekCap, its online lending platform, provided entrepreneurs access to loans that they need to expand their businesses.

Additionally, i2i, the banking-as-a-service platform of UBX, empowered MSMEs to become cash agents, enabling them to process financial transactions similar to banks.

“Achieving financial inclusion is not just a one-man agenda. It requires cooperation among all those involved, but it must be emphasized that the government must be at the forefront of this campaign. I have full faith in our leaders that they will call upon the best people for the job in promoting its open finance initiatives,” Januszczak said.

Established to promote financial inclusion in the Philippines, ECCP-SCOFFI provides an avenue for stakeholders to discuss issues and solutions to the status quo while fostering financial inclusion through technology. Together with UBX, the Special Committee has been a big help to the BSP when it comes to formulating open finance standards and procedures for better implementation.

DigiPinas Group calls on gov’t to accelerate digital transformation efforts

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With the Philippine digital economy seen to balloon to as much as $150 billion – or about P8.3 trillion by current peso-dollar exchange rates – the government must accelerate its digital transformation initiatives to maximize the potential of the so-called e-conomy.

Digital Transformation ng Pilipinas (DigiPinas), a UBX-led multisectoral initiative for digital transformation in the government, believes that while the government is treading the right path towards a new digital world, the Philippines has yet to unlock the true potential of its digital economy.

“The national government is definitely on the right track towards achieving a new digital world where everyone is included. But while the Internet is considered the greatest equalizer, the national and local governments play an important role in driving digital services that fully cater to their constituents on a more intimate scale,” said DigiPinas Spokesperson Mikan Leachon.

According to a 2022 study conducted by Google and Temasek on Southeast Asia’s e-conomy through 2030, the Philippine digital economy is currently valued at $20 billion. It is expected to grow on a steady upward trajectory, ballooning to as much as $150 billion in the next decade.

Digital retail, online travel, online media, digital payments, and online transportation and food deliveries make up most of the values derived from the e-conomy. According to the study, more and more Filipinos are adapting to the digital trend.

The reopening of Southeast Asian economies created a significant impact on consumers and the digital economy with the pandemic normalizing online transactions. Google and Temasek data point to a continued growth path for digital transactions despite the resumption of onground economic activities.

Given this, the Philippine government must quickly address the demand for digital government solutions to complement this uptrend.

“The Philippines is going through a digital revolution and the government has to step up its game to enable this to succeed. The current administration’s desire to pursue digital transformation is a welcome development, we just have to turn this idea into a reality. DigiPinas is able and willing to support the government in this initiative,” Leachon said.

DigiPinas champions the enforcement of policies related to digital transformation, geared towards solving age-old problems such as low digital adoption, lack of awareness, gaps in access, digital skills gap, and complex regulations.

It aims to equip each government partner with digital tools and solutions to bring their services closer to their constituents.

UBX, the leading open finance platform in the Philippines, is leading this initiative, providing its expertise in digital financial solutions to the national and local governments, especially those that are in the far-flung and rural municipalities.

“We are eager to partner with various government agencies – both national and local governments – and equip them with the right solutions for digital transformation,” Leachon said.

Tambunting (Tiwala Sa Padala Co. Inc.) partners with UBX to embrace open finance technologies

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UBX, the leading open finance platform in the Philippines, has teamed up with Tambunting (Tiwala Sa Padala Co. Inc.) to transform the country’s leading Remittance Service company into a modern hub that offers a spectrum of digital financial services.

Under the partnership, i2i, the banking banking-as-a-service platform of UBX, will be empowering Tambunting counters to roll out its Open Finance Platform to its branch network, connecting it to platforms and agents in over 10,000 locations in the country.

With its ubiquity and reach bolstered by the reliable digital solutions of UBX, Tambunting is set to expand its financial services with ease and convenience, especially for those in the countryside.

“We believe in the spirit of collaboration to deliver financial services to our clients. As a mature organization with a storied history, we believe that actively embracing digitalization is not just an option, but a responsibility. Our alliance with UBX is a strategy and a testimony to our commitment to continuously deliver best-in-class services to our customers,” Tiwala sa Padala Director Ramon Tambunting said.

As the demand rises for more digital channels in everyday services, Tambunting brick and mortar branch, powered by i2i, can quickly deliver a wide range of financial services such as deposit taking, loan origination, remittance, e-wallet cash-in, bills payments, and other products and services to its clients with an added customer experience that is simple and reliable.

“UBX puts financial inclusion at the highest degree of importance. Powering Tambunting branches as it ventures into open finance is truly a great honor, as we both share a commitment to promoting accessibility of financial services and bringing these closer to the everyday Filipino,” UBX President John Januzczak said.

In a nutshell, i2i aggregates banking services and UBX’s ventures within one platform, allowing for a more democratized access to financial services for Filipinos through its network partners. Currently, i2i has three portals, a mobile application, a website, and a set of application programming interfaces (APIs).

A cloud-based platform, i2i is built on blockchain and open finance technologies, enabling fast, reliable, and secure financial transactions, including but not limited to wallet transfers, domestic transfers, bills payment, mobile scoring, mobile ATM, and offline and online loan processing, among others.

i2i has seen its transactions ballooning by 5.4x over the last three years, connecting customers to hundreds of financial institutions found in communities, such as rural banks and remittance centers with over 10,000 touchpoints, all over the country.

“UBX is in the business of including everyone in the country’s financial systems. Our partnership with Tambunting (Tiwala sa Padala Co. Inc.) brings us a step closer to our goal, encouraging us to continue to pursue more meaningful collaborations to promote financial inclusion and provide better services to the Filipino people,” Januzczak said.

To learn more about i2i and its services, please visit www.i2i.ph

UBX returns to The Final Pitch, drives open finance, financial inclusion agenda

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UBX, the leading open finance platform in the Philippines, is back on CNN Philippines’ The Final Pitch (TPF) with a stronger drive to promote its mission of empowering startups and smaller players with open finance solutions in pursuit of its goal of including everyone.

UBX President & CEO John Januszczak will serve as one of the investor-judges supported by UBX Chief Product Officer Anne Yosuico, and UBX Singapore Country Head Cyrus Cruz who will both serve as members of the investor team on the show’s eighth season, which will be focusing on tech innovations in the business industry.

This year, they are on the lookout for the next big thing in the Philippine startup scene.

Given its established position as the leading open finance platform in the Philippines, UBX is now in a much better position to help smaller and often overlooked players to rise to greater heights, providing insights to startups to survive and thrive in the local scene.

“We genuinely believe that tech is the greatest equalizer. I am so happy to be back at TFP, especially with this edition being the tech edition, which is the driver of financial inclusion, especially in the modern age,” Januszczak shared.

UBX is the practical go-to platform of MSMEs and startups for financial technology solutions. UBX boasts of innovative ventures such as i2i, its banking-as-a-service platform, SeekCap, its open-lending marketplace, BUX, an end-to-end payment solutions platform that allows merchants of all sizes to accept all forms of payment, and Sentro, a free online shop builder that allows you sell online, manage inventory, accept payments and book deliveries.

Aside from this, UBX also has an Innovations Garage Program, a three-month program where businesses would have to work on a concept and search for a business model, the final output being a business plan proposal.

Thanks to UBX, startups will have the resources to develop and refine their ideas, build their prototypes, and test their ideas in the market. Approval by UBX means more funding and eligible participants will move on to the MVP stage.

Before the pandemic hit, 99.5 percent of registered businesses with the Department of Trade and Industry were classified as MSMEs, which generated 62.4 percent of the country’s total employment. With the imposition of the community quarantines, a large portion of this number were forced to shut down their business.

But they quickly bounced back and found avenues to recover. With the support of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the Department of Trade and Industry, and other government agencies, smaller businesses started to embrace digital technology and bring their enterprises online.

Supportive of the BSP’s Digital Payments Transformation Roadmap and the National Strategy for Financial Inclusion, UBX also pitched in to assist startups and MSMEs through its different solutions, guiding businesses through true digital transformation.

UBX’s designs are built to affect and persuade, develop agile products that provide stellar customer experience and digitally transform businesses to adapt to the demands of the real world.

Small businesses are guided to focus on the right strategy and solution and become cut-above-the-rest leaders with topnotch, data-driven advice from the most sought-after experts in the field.

Thus, with its comeback to TFP, UBX is in search of likeminded enterprises which will help achieve its goal of promoting financial inclusion in the Philippines. UBX is looking forward to providing more access and more opportunities to empower partners, especially those that make a strong impact on society.

“Tech in general is an enabler of financial inclusion. We’re on the lookout for financial technology, coupled with ruthless product-market fit, that we can help expand or monetize through open finance,” Januszczak said.

UBX introduces startup mixer; zeroes in on collaboration, building alliances

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UBX, the leading open finance platform in the Philippines, has mounted its first regular mixer event, bringing in founders, industry players, venture capitalists, and investors together in a bid to hasten the development of the local startup scene.

Called the UBX Lounge 48 Mixer, UBX organizes the quarterly social gathering together with communities and organizations like JCI Manila, Alike Community, and Fintech Alliance to allow startups to meet, collaborate, and exchange ideas and initiatives over good food and drinks.

“The key to getting through the ever changing business landscape globally is to be open and to collaborate. We are all part of one ecosystem that supports each other. It is important that we continuously engage and collaborate with the community,” UBX President John Januszczak said.

UBX invited several speakers to the first UBX Lounge 48 Mixer, including former Department of Finance (DOF) Secretary Gary B. Teves and Gobi-Core Philippine Fund Founding Partner Carlo Delantar.

Teves discussed how alliances are key to succeed in the local startup scene, given the delays in the implementation of key laws and policies that support the development of startups.

He also underscored the need for the Philippines to focus on developing science-based education programs to meet the growing demand for research scientists and engineers — two of the most in-demand posts for startups.

“The bulk of funding in the last two years were focused on three key sectors, e-commerce, fintech, and media tech. We need to further support other important sectors like agritech, edutech, cleantech, and healthtech —- all of which are essential to nation building,” Teves said.

Delantar, on the other hand, talked about the funding landscape in the Philippines. Gobi-Core, he said, believes that “the time is ripe for the Philippines to take its place in the world as a key player in the technology sphere.”

"The Philippines is at a critical point for technology innovation. Investments, talent and ecosystem building remains a cornerstone for development. This mixer provided the avenue for the community to meet after over two years of lockdown with a diverse mix of audience represented by government, corporations, NGOs and startups,” Delantar said.

The first UBX Lounge 48 Mixer brought in more than 100 participants across different sectors — from startup founders to venture capitalists, from industry leaders to upstarts.

UBX Managing Director Jaime Garchitorena highlighted the importance of collaboration in the startup community, likening it to how UBX’s open finance framework works.

Open finance entails the collaboration from different players to share permissioned data to build new products, develop existing services, and tailor solutions to the finance-related needs of individuals and organizations.

“As an individual organization, it would take decades to make a difference, but if a vision is pushed by a community — an entire ecosystem — the impact of our collective efforts will be felt at a much faster and more sustainable pace,” Garchitorena said.

UBX to double workforce in 2022

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New hires to drive further growth, inclusive finance vision of UBX

UBX, the leading open finance platform in the Philippines, plans to more than double its workforce this year to strengthen its goal of developing more digital financial solutions and better serve consumers and businesses.

After gaining traction in 2021, UBX plans to continue innovating to introduce more solutions in various financial segments, including, but not limited to payments, banking services, savings and insurance, identity verification and credit scoring, as well as cryptocurrencies, among many others.

To do this, UBX is looking to boost its workforce for business development and tech with plans to add more than 200 employees within 2022.

“Despite the pandemic, we were able to grow our workforce to a little over 200 in 2021, allowing us to grow rapidly and promote our goal of making finance inclusive for everyone. We are ramping up our hiring initiatives to reach our target headcount of 500 this year, as we implement our growth strategies and expand our spectrum of financial services throughout 2022,” UBX Chief Human Resources Officer Gladys Ocampo said.

UBX, a three-year old startup backed by UnionBank of the Philippines of conglomerate Aboitiz Group, recorded impressive growth in 2021, serving over 200,000 business to business customers, partnering with more than 2,000 independent banking agents and 250 financial institutions, and recording an annual gross transaction value of P20 billion.

This upward trajectory allowed UBX to quintuple its revenues last year, a growth momentum that is expected to ripple through 2022.

As part of its core value of being inclusive, UBX hires talent that fit the skills needed for the job, regardless of one’s gender identity, educational background, training, or experience.

UBX hires fresh graduates, especially in the field of technology, and provides them with free training through its Bootcamp on programming languages such as Appian and Outsystems.

“We provide our talent with resources and tools to develop their skills and knowledge in their field. At UBX, we are not afraid of investing in our people, who, in turn, invest in us as well with their talent,” Ocampo said.

UBX plans to mount open house roadshows in key areas outside the National Capital Region (NCR) to encourage talent from the provinces to join the leading fintech innovator. It plans to scout for tech talents in Iloilo, Cebu, Davao, and Cagayan de Oro.

“We operate an open, agile, innovative, experimental, and highly collaborative environment. We are looking for people who share our mission of embedding financial services into the activities and experiences, as well as giving access to the unserved and the underserved market” Ocampo said.

About UBX

UBX is the financial technology venture studio and fund of UnionBank of the Philippines. UBX is predicated on a future where financial services are invisible: seamlessly embedded into the experiences and activities that truly matter to businesses and people. For partnerships, email us at hello@ubx.ph.

For more information about the company and this article, please visit www.ubx.ph

i2i Mobile ATM marks first year of providing digitally-enabled access to funds to communities

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i2i, the nation’s fastest growing payments and cash disbursement network, celebrates the first anniversary since the launch of its groundbreaking Mobile ATM solution. Developed and operated by UBX, UnionBank’s fintech spin-off, the i2i platform digitally enables financial institutions and other community based financial service providers to drive financial inclusion in the country. 

 

i2i Mobile ATM was a timely response to the pandemic and the need to digitally enable distribution and access to funds. In the last 6 months of 2020, i2i Mobile ATM volumes increased 3000% monthly. In 2021, i2i kicked off the year by welcoming over 1,300 new financial service providers and agents to the network via a joint venture with the Irish financial services technology giant Fexco. 

 

Robert Serdena, the owner of Rodhess Ticketing and Travel Services, i2i Mobile ATM’s first partner, said, “Salamat nalang at nakilala ko si i2i Mobile ATM. Malaking naitulong nito sa aking pangkabuhayan. Subalit hindi lamang sa pangkabuhayan, malaking tulong din ito sa aking mga kabarangay dahil hindi na nila kailangan mag-biyahe ng lima hanggang sampung kilometro para mag-withdraw sa pinakamalapit na ATM dito sa aming lugar.”  

 

i2i Mobile ATM provided significant support to communities and businesses during the pandemic. It brings ATM services to the community while providing an additional source of income for small businesses. Reducing travel and bringing cash distribution closer to home means safer access to funds while saving ATM customers time and money. 

 

One of i2i Mobile ATM’s sari-sari store owner partners, Elsie Dizon, said “Natutuwa ako kasi kahit wala pa akong isang buwan, nadagdagan ‘yung customers ko. At siyempre dahil naka-withdraw na sila, may pera na sila, namimili din sila ng ilang items sa tindahan ko. Masaya din sila kasi merong mas malapit at kahit sa ibang barangay, dito rin sila nagwi-withdraw sa akin. Nagpapasalamat ako sa i2i Mobile ATM dahil nadagdagan ang kabuhayan ko.” 

 

As community-based financial service providers, i2i Mobile ATM partners are essential for many, including pensioners. This at-risk population cannot travel to nearby towns or the nearest ATM, either of which could be several kilometers away. i2i Mobile ATM provides safer access to DSWD 4Ps & SAP program beneficiaries closer to home in far-flung or remote areas. At the same time, small businesses directly affected by the quarantine like travel & tour operators, sari-sari stores and carinderias have found an alternative line of business in the midst of the pandemic. i2i Mobile ATM has augmented the incomes of these entrepreneurs and SMEs who may now recycle otherwise idle liquidity for an additional source of revenue.  

 

More Filipino business owners are signing up for i2i Mobile ATM for additional income. The i2i team conducts webinars every 2 weeks to assist interested business owners. 

To learn more about i2i Mobile ATM, follow i2i and i2i Mobile ATM Philippines on Facebook. You may also visit https://www.i2i.ph