UNIONBANK
The pandemic and the ease of use were the biggest contributing factors to customers seeking digital banking alternatives . As Aguda points out , culturally speaking , such services have been welcomed because they have made moving money around so much easier for users . He also believes the pandemic has been instrumental in changing transactional behaviour in the Philippines .
“ There ' s a lack of extended family in the Philippines , and there ’ s a cultural nuance where we take care of our extended families , whether they ' re living with us or living overseas , or in the rural areas . Because of that need , people had to adapt to the platform that allows them to extend their assistance to those extended family members .”
Cyber security and privacy practices But as with all major digital overhauls , cybercrime is never far behind - and has been instrumental in toppling many large-scale institutions since the pandemic began . It has therefore been at the forefront of many recent discussions by leading banks and institutions .
Union Bank of the Philippines has responded to the threat by creating its own cybersecurity operations centre which is so technologically innovative that it has now become part of the banking regulatory framework .
“ Years before the pandemic , we started making our own cybersecurity operation centre , which has now become a standard required by our regulators for the other banks ,” Aguda says . He goes on to explain that as one of the first banks in the region to implement such a programme , the centre ,