By: Patrick B. Villalobos

Union Bank of the Philippines (UnionBank), a member of the Aboitiz Group, has waived its fund transfer fees until end of this year. 
 
The extension of its free Instapay transfers or instant transfers between accounts of participating central bank-supervised banks and non-bank e-money issuers in the Philippines up to December 2020 aims to ease the difficulties of its customers amid the pandemic. The company is leveraging its “phygital” platforms to realize this goal.
 
Since the start of community quarantines in Metro Manila and other areas nationwide, UnionBank has bolstered its mobile and online banking channels for retail and corporate customers, namely, UnionBank Online and The Portal, respectively, to enable patrons to safely make banking transactions from home.

 Also, it deployed its Bank On Wheels to bring its bank branches at the doorstep of its customers. Simultaneously, the bank continues to address the needs of clients who still choose physical transactions over digital alternatives.

Of late, UnionBank has about 50 fully digital bank branches called “The ARK” aimed at introducing customers to the future of banking by giving them the right combination of friendly-physical and efficiently-digital experience.
 
Meanwhile, UBX has deployed mobile automated teller machines to its rural bank partners and financial cooperatives where beneficiaries of the government’s Social Amelioration Program can rapidly withdraw their money.

The fintech arm of UnionBank has, likewise, started linking its rural bank members to its new network that includes Cebuana Lhuillier, LBC, Palawan Express and PeraHub.

This allows customers of these provincial banks to send funds and payments to more than 11,000 outlets of the four remittance centers nationwide.

UnionBank President and Chief Executive Officer Edwin Bautista previously said that the company still commits itself to provide best-in-class banking experience to the public.