SINGAPORE – 30 September 2019 – UnionBank of the Philippines’ (UnionBank) globally-awarded API Marketplace (developer.unionbankph.com) is enabling fintechs to scale growth through co-creation and reaching a wider audience for their APIs.
It is one of the largest in Asia with over 200 open APIs, and a regional network with connectivity to the ASEAN Financial Innovation Network (AFIN) and its API Exchange (APIXplatform.com) — an initiative by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to create digital infrastructure that enables inclusive prosperity in the region.
UnionBank’s API Marketplace allows fintechs and other innovative companies to tap into banking and other functionalities so these are offered at speed to customers in ways that are highly personalized. As UnionBank is the first and only Philippine bank in AFIN, it is the Philippines’ international gateway and publishes APIs from its Marketplace to the region-wide APIX platform.
Towards collaboration and ecosystem building, the API Marketplace opens its doors to many API publishers including those for non-banking functionalities. These fintechs and tech companies can reach a wider consumer base, whether this be other fintechs that serve the unbanked, or even UnionBank and its account holders.
Fintech endpoints for cash payout and gift vouchers are already online, while bills payment, micro-investment, micro-insurance and digital credits among others will be available soon.
For UnionBank, opening up its APIs and the Marketplace fulfills its purpose of elevating lives and enabling communities through smart banking as this promotes inclusion by making financial services accessible to a greater customer base, many of which in the developing world are the unbanked population and SMEs. It is also a way for the bank to collaborate and gain insight into innovative financial services that customers are in need of.
Since the start of the year, the Marketplace has given the bank access to over 30 million Filipinos who consume its APIs via fintechs UnionBank collaborates with. By end-2019, nearly 40% of fintechs in the Philippines alone will be powered by APIs on UnionBank’s Marketplace.
