The Union Bank of the Philippines, Inc., more commonly known as UnionBank, is one of the universal banks in the Philippines and the ninth largest bank in the country by assets. UnionBank is a joint consortium among the Aboitiz Group,

Insular Life The Insular Life Assurance Company, Ltd. (commonly known by its trade name, Insular Life, and shortened as InLife) is a mutual life insurance company in the Philippines. Established on November 25, 1910 in Manila, it is the first Filipino life in ...

and

Social Security System Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifical ...

. It started operations in 1981 and became a commercial bank on January 19, 1982. In July 1992, UnionBank was granted the license to operate as a universal bank.

History

Founding

The bank was originally incorporated as “Union Savings and Mortgage Bank” on August 16, 1968. After the initial public offering the bank's shares were listed at the

Philippine Stock Exchange The Philippine Stock Exchange, Inc. ( fil, Pamilihang Sapi ng Pilipinas; ) is the national stock exchange of the Philippines. The exchange was created in 1992 from the merger of the Manila Stock Exchange and the Makati Stock Exchange. Includin ...

(PSE) on June 29, 1992.

Licensing as universal bank

On July 15, 1992, the bank was granted the license to operate as a universal bank in the Philippines and the bank was changed its current name to Union Bank of the Philippines (UBP).

Mergers and acquisitions

In 1993, UnionBank merged with International Corporate Bank ("Interbank") and in 2006 another merger with International Exchange Bank ("iBank") followed (after first being denied by iBank). In 2013, UnionBank acquired

City Savings Bank City Savings Bank, commonly known as CitySavings, is a thrift bank subsidiary of Union Bank of the Philippines and established in 1965, founded in Cebu City and also member of the Aboitiz Group of Companies. City Savings is regulated by the Ban ...

, making City Savings Bank a 100% UnionBank subsidiary and consolidating Aboitiz group's banking units. On December 23, 2021, UnionBank acquired

Citibank Philippines Citibank Philippines is the Philippines branch of Citibank. In July 1902, the International Banking Corporation, a predecessor to Citibank, opened its first branch in Manila. Currently, it is the largest commercial bank in the Philippines. ...

from

Citigroup Citigroup Inc. or Citi ( stylized as citi) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services corporation headquartered in New York City. The company was formed by the merger of banking giant Citicorp and financial conglomera ...

for , with UnionBank as the surviving entity of the said merger, the deal is expected to close in the second half of 2022.

Opening of UnionDigital

In 2021, UnionBank was one of only six applicants licensed by the

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (; commonly abbreviated as BSP in both Filipino and English) is the central bank of the Philippines. It was established on July 3, 1993, pursuant to the provision of Republic Act 7653 or the New Central Bank Ac ...

to open a

digital bank A neobank (also known as an online bank, internet-only bank, virtual bank or digital bank) is a type of direct bank that operates exclusively online without traditional physical branch networks. The term " challenger bank" is used in the UK to ...

, prior to its announcement of a three-year moratorium on digital bank licenses. This means that UnionBank's new Digital Bank, known as Union Digital Bank (UnionDigital) will be one of only six digital banks in the Philippines for at least three years, alongside Overseas Filipino Bank, Tonik Digital Bank, UNObank, GOtyme, and Maya Bank. On July 12, 2022, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas granted UnionDigital the Certificate of Authority to Operate. It commenced operations on July 18 as UnionDigital Bank Inc.

Launch of crypto services

UnionBank is one of the first financial institutions in the Philippines to adopt

cryptocurrency A cryptocurrency, crypto-currency, or crypto is a digital currency designed to work as a medium of exchange through a computer network that is not reliant on any central authority, such as a government or bank, to uphold or maintain it. It i ...

, and was the first local lender to release its own stablecoin in 2019, named PHX, which gives rural banks easier access to remittance and payments. In 2019, the bank also launched crypto ATMs that allow its account holders with crypto wallets to withdraw cash that is converted from crypto as well as trade on the spot. In January 2022, there were reports confirming that UnionBank plans to launch crypto trading and custodial services. On 20 January 2022, METACO issued a press release to announce that its digital asset custody solution will be used to manage the bank’s crypto assets.

Subsidiaries and Affiliates

UnionBank is divided into the following subsidiaries and affiliates: *

*First Union Direct *First Union Plans *UBP Capital Corporation *Union Properties *UBX Philippines, Inc. *UnionDigital Bank

Ownership

Aboitiz Equity Ventures Aboitiz Equity Ventures (AEV) is a Philippine holding company based in Metro Manila, with roots from Cebu City. The conglomerate operates in six major industries: Power, Banking and Financial Services, Food, Infrastructure, and Data Science and A ...

: 49.31% *

: 18.91% * Insular Life Assurance Co., Ltd.: 16.32% *Others: 15.46%

References

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