ABOITIZ-family led Union Bank of the Philippines Inc. (PSE: UBP) announced it has launched a platform that allows businesses to “manage the end-to-end payment and collections process.”
In a statement issued last Tuesday, the lender said the app called “Upay” can also be used by companies and small-scale and medium-scale enterprises to “transform their web and mobile applications into a super app.” UBP didn’t say how much it spent to develop the app.
The lender said the app was developed as digital adoption was marked with “massive growth,” with internet usage penetration reaching close to 70 percent of the Philippine population at the start of 2022, pushing the growth in annual spend on online consumer goods purchase to 26 percent (approximately valued at $17 billion).
“This drove businesses to accelerate their digital transformation initiatives and improvements, particularly in the areas of receiving payments and collections, to be able to optimally cater to the demands of a still rapidly growing digital economy,” UBP said.
The lender said its “Upay” offers a selection of payment methods and channels their clients can choose from, ranging from debit and credit cards, bank transfers and e-wallets.
“UPAY is equipped with a variety of tools for a quick and hassle-free payment solution. It accepts widely used payment channels and has an advanced reporting and reconciliation system that provides access to useful payment and collection data,” UBP Senior Vice-President and Corporate Products Head Dino N. Velasco was quoted in the statement as saying. “Having a simple yet complete payment system makes for a better overall experience not only for our clients but for their clients as well.” The lender said adopters of the app include
Bloom Solutions Inc. and the Supreme Court (SC) of the Philippines.
“It has given us the ability to receive payments from different banks, through different channels—this means that our bank-end processes are more efficient and responsive when issues arise,” Bloom Solutions COO Justin David was quoted in the statement as saying.
The SC, on the other hand, recently launched their Judiciary Electronic Payment System (JEPS) using UPAY as its integrated unified payment and collection platform.
“With JEPS, payment transactions with the Court are made more convenient. Litigants no longer need to physically go to the courthouse to pay court fees because they now have the option to pay online at any location and at their most convenient time,” lawyer Jed Sherwin Uy, Deputy Clerk of Court and Chief Technology Officer, was quoted in the statement as saying. “Transactions are also processed real-time.”