In more ways than one, the coronavirus pandemic served as the catalyst that forced banking institutions to take bigger and bolder steps towards digitization. With online services, what started as safety measures under strict social distancing guidelines, became the core of the new digital norm that will extend to the post-Covid 19 era.
For UnionBank, this has been a test to its capabilities as a company that fully embraced digital banking. As the “second most helpful bank in Asia-Pacific” based on April’s BankQuality Consumer Survey on Retail Banks and “Bank of the Year 2020” in the Philippines awarded by The Banker, the company is going full-speed ahead in innovation and co-creation initiatives.
“This is really the time wherein, together we can usher in a renaissance in the area of banking and technology. It’s an area where the Philippines can not only be a fast follower, but can actually be a trailblazer in the banking world,” said UnionBank president and CEO Edwin Bautista during the 7th episode of the bank’s E-Talk Tales webinar series.
Earlier this year, UnionBank assisted LGUs for distribution of the Social Amelioration Program (SAP) cash assistance that amounted to P4.9 billion, towards 700,000 beneficiaries. Its thrift bank subsidiary CitySavings Bank also facilitated a total of P26.1 billion in teachers’ loans, P3.2 billion in motorcycle loans, and 2.9 billion in MSME loans to beneficiaries.
Aside from data science and AI elements, UnionBank will be harnessing DevSecOps to be able to react in any situation at a faster pace. The ‘development, security, and operations’ ideology enables organizations to take full advantage of the DevOps approach while fully integrating IT security in the entire app life cycle.
With DevSecOps, application and infrastructure security are applied in the beginning. By building security from end to end, UnionBank can test newer features much faster and deploy these same features almost real-time. The company sees this as the key in creating more banking services moving forward.
