UnionBank Launches UPAY

 

Union Bank of the Philippines just recently held its 12th E-Media TalkTales to talk about how UnionBank SME Business Banking can help MSMEs start their business through UPAY, an all in one fully digital payment acceptance hub.

James Ileto the Head of Corporate Media for Unionbank says "We're in the golden age of E-Commerce in the Philippines and a lot of businesses have registered their businesses online. The enterprising nature of Filipinos is seen to continue in the next few months. It's growth, and higher demand for digital payments happens as economic recovery trails in the country. Unionbank is empowering Filipino entrepreneurs which is why we're launching an MSME solution today."


Jaypee Soliman the VP for Customer Segment Management Head for Unionbank says "More than a million of MSME's have registered in the recent year, it's an area of huge opportunities especially because of factors that have forced us to transform digitally. The MSME segment is vast, but customer interaction should be common. Digital channels should be taken advantage to reach more clients. 34.5 percent now have bank accounts and digital payments to stay connected with customers. Shopee, Lazada, social media platforms, even Viber are putting up seller platforms. Storefronts should have digital payments. The need to digitize payment collection should be easy to understand, properly be accounted for. We at Unionbank went straight to customers, businesses don't need fancy solutions, but relevant ones. It's not about the business alone, but the community. It's about customer experience, who is there to help them? Platforms for MSME's have been in Unionbank that are specially designed for MSME entrepreneurs. From opening bank accounts, business loans, local and international bank transfers, bill payments, mobile check payments and more. This is UPAY for MSME's. It's got fully digital entrollment and instant activation, showcases multi channel collection capabilities, usability in multiple types of transactions, low cost entry."

Gerry Austria the Merchant Acquiring Payment Gateway Head for Unionbank says "The numbers are promising especially to our existing MSME clients. Clients have access to the app, in a month or two, they will be more aware and getting UPAY for MSME's out there. This app will level the playingfield than bigger merchants. Previously only bigger corporations have access to it, we're making it easier. Around 1 Million businesses is our target, ambitious, but perhaps more. When we designed UPAY we wanted to do away with the hassles to set up payments. We made it accessible, not much forms, just download the app. You don't need to be in the actual store for someone to pay you, you just create payment links and send it to the customer. Convenient to all parties."

This is convenient and knowing that it's all digital is reassuring. I can't wait to try it out myself soon!

Meralco Launches 1st MTECH 2015

We're in the Meralco Technology and Innovation Summit today at the Meralco grounds in Ortigas. This is a 3 day summit designed to push Meralco's goal for innovative solutions and customer service advancement in the power industry. They call it Visioneering, a combination of forming a vision and engineering innovative solutions that would in turn increase customer interaction, empower them, integrate environmentally apt and distributed resources, plus sustainable and reliable energy. This is the first MTECH forum and they were led by Meralco Chairman Manny V. Pangilinan, President and CEO Oscar Reyes, Meralco SVP Alfred Panlilio and their Chief Technology Adviser Gavin Barfield in simple ceremonies. 

Meralco's VP and CIO Marthyn Cuan says "Tech is a powerful tool to differentiate Meralco Business from the others as we continue to engage and empower our customers. It will shape a brighter future for the company and our customers."

Confirmed to speak in the conference is IBM Scaleable Solutions Architect and master inventor Kerrie Holley who will talk about his topic "Rethink Disruption". Also, they had IBM Analytics Chief Data Scientist Dr. Olav Laudy talking about big data and analytics and how to use it in utility companies. Siemens Asean Chief Technology Officer and Engineering Head Anand Gopal Menon and Sajin Rejan the Managing Director from Opower APAC on the other hand discussed smart technologies and customer based applications. All of these of which is to make Meralco 2021 a reality today.

MTECH2015 has also partnered with Cisco (hello! I know you're reading this LOL), Cotrix, Cloudera, Dell, Indra, Landis + Gyr, Microsoft, GMS, Hitatchi, Huawei, IBM, Pay Maya, Safezone, Salesforce (oh hello there too!), Samsung Business, Schneider Electric, Siemens, Toshiba and a lot more so they could showcase their products, software and services at the venue.

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IBM: 75Years of Innovation in the Philippines!

IBM Philippines just celebrated their 75th Anniversary in this country. As much as it looks so overwhelmingly stamped its ground in the Philippines, they still probably think its still in its infancy. I was reminded more of what huge contributions they have made in the last few years despite of the hardships they also as a corporation have encountered. They have evolved from being a hardware vendor to a full circle serviced corporation able to integrate processes here and around the globe. They now are one of the stalwarts of off shore operations for IBM and one of the few recognized countries that would be essential for the growth of this multinational corporation. President and Country General Manager Mariels Almeda-Winhoffer said that this has been the challenge for her, she wants IBM Philippines to become ESSENTIAL. That word alone entails a lot of things and responsibilities and a private corporation like IBM Philippines wants to take this challenge. In undertaking this humongous task, I'd gladly laud them for even thinking of it.

IBM Philippines portfolio has grown tremendously. With 50 accounts and more to come in bpo, supply and shared services, it was not surprising seeing their numbers grow. Their goal was to always follow their dreams of building more smarter cities, gain ideal geo expansions, utilize cloud and its convenient advantages, plus utilize analytics to predict/gain reliable data.The first female IBM President and Country General Manager Mariels Almeda-Winhoffer says her arrival to the Philippines made her have a different purpose; to become an essential part of the country/the community/ and their customers. Actually she said the whole business model was made to support this goal. Aside from that, they did not forget their duty to society. Their Kidsmart project alone benefited almost 800,000 kids, institutions, students and professors. They have also put importance in integrated health services in the Philippines as this has also been the center of attention of IBM globally. IBM Philippines is now a proud services and software company that's going to have sustainable growth in the next few years. They will continue providing solutions via integration. That is actually their next step, and they are adding more for their long term goals.

It was a treat visiting them on their turf, let alone on a day where they celebrate their 75th year. They even had a small part of the intros explaining the Filipino work ethics and customs. It was nice to see it in that perspective. I hardly ask questions but while everyone was at the heat of the moment, I remembered the part about IBM and the problems they had with GSIS. I was worried that they painted a pretty picture here but still had that issue with the records of that government agency. As soon as I asked, everyone jumped in and said that it has been resolved. They released a statement here years ago. I was wondering what happened to that because I personally saw my Mom go through hell in GSIS. Saw an article here saying there were settlements being done during the new administration. In any case, they assured me they've got that settled already. Mom should be happy.

Today they've got a few projects with local cities like Davao. Their Public Safety and Security Command Center is being scaled up on a one of a kind initiative to make this one of their Smart Cities. The IBM Intelligent Operations Center solutions will create advanced technological solutions to existing infrastructure to improve the overall city management which will further lower crime rates in Davao. They will also be using analytics on parts of this very promising projects. Pretty soon they'll be using the same technique to other ones but this is a definite first in the world! I'm sure this wouldn't be the last of it!

This has always been IBM Philippines thrust; which is transformation through innovation. They've already made a great head start in more cities in the Philippines; and this will surely be something to be shared to the rest of the world. The Philippines is indeed essential to IBM's growth today and for years to come. Congratulations on continuing to grow together; with the people and communities you've helped along the way. Thank you for being a part of a bigger, better Philippines!