UNIONBANK
on the future : Digital services for people
“ I was lucky enough that the people I work with are all passionate and forward-thinking . They adapted to the new solutions quite easily .”
Addressing the unbanked In 2019 , according to an official financial inclusion study , an astonishing 51.2 million people in the Philippines were still unbanked . The pandemic has undoubtedly changed that - but in terms of addressing financial inclusion , the situation remains a challenge .
In 2015 , for example , the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas ( BSP ) set a goal to increase the number of digital payments in the country from just 1 % to 20 % by 2020 . “ We ' ve exceeded that target and are hitting an estimated 30 % in terms of digital transactions . We are still lower compared to our peers in the CN region , but we ' ll be at parity with them in one to two years ’ time ,” predicts Aguda .
In part , cultural attitudes to digital banking were responsible for a large number of unbanked people . “ Some said , prior to the pandemic that people are used to traditional banking that they will never choose not to go to the branch . But then in the age of social distancing when you remove that option , people just gravitate towards what is available ,” says Aguda , who recalls that in early 2020 , there was initial hesitation in adopting more digital banking services , but once customers discovered how easy it was , the adoption level increased .
“ They realised that it was actually more convenient than the traditional channels to open an account with UnionBank during the pandemic , you don ' t have to leave your house . You just have to download the app , take a selfie of yourself , take a picture of your government-issued IDs , and within three minutes , you already have a bank account .”
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