Union Bank of the Philippines headed by bankero Edwin Bautista continues to pursue digital transformation and strengthen its supply chain finance solution platform to help micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mon Duarte, Head of Transaction Banking and Platform Development at UnionBank, said the move aims to simplify operations and financial management across their supply chain ecosystems, mitigating losses for its business partners.
“This platform contributes effectively to sales for cash management, deposits, SME loans, and business banking enrollment. With SCF, the bank is introduced to an effective wholesale lending strategy packaged with a retail account and online app banking enrollment,” the bankero said.
The platform also allowed the UnionBank to lend effectively to MSMEs and to the agriculture industry as required by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).
The COVID-19 outbreak has had a detrimental influence on countries’ economies. Lockdown restrictions have caused supply and demand for commodities to become distorted, impacting both consumers and business, especially MSMEs.
A survey conducted by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) showed that those who were unable to cope with the health crisis were either forced to close down or immediately faced delays in the delivery of products and services, especially with the disrupted supply chains and a sharp drop in the domestic demand for small firms.
“Now that the economy is opening up again, they need to quickly meet their operational needs while ensuring that their digital pivot remains fully optimized,” Duarte said.
