UnionBank becomes the first bank from the Philippines to join BIAN

By Edil Corneille

Union Bank of the Philippines (UnionBank) is now a member of global banking standard organization, Banking Industry Architecture Network (BIAN). UnionBank is said to join other international banks and technology partners to become the first and only bank from the Philippines to join BIAN.

Established in 2008, BIAN is a non-profit organization having the objective to provide the best banking architecture and the aim to be the banking technology standard by providing a common architectural framework across the industry. BIAN’s ecosystem is formed by banks and FinTechs, technology providers, consultants and academics.

UnionBank is looking forward to taking advantage of BIAN’s wide array of special projects such as but not limited to open APIs and coreless banking.

Dennis Omila, Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer of UnionBank said, “At UnionBank, as we continue to redefine and re-imagine the playing field, with customer experience as our beacon, it is important that we conform to global standards and best practices that allows simple and faster integration with other partner institutions. This is why a BIAN-based Enterprise Architecture is highly essential as we journey more and more towards Open and Embedded Banking interconnecting partners and FinTechs, not just in the Philippines, but also throughout the region…”

UnionBank’s technical experts can join a variety of different working groups to focus on the likes of semantic APIs, product certifications, cards, lending and fraud management where they can collaborate with other industry experts, analysts and peers.

“We’re proud to welcome UnionBank to our growing organisation”, said Hans Tesselaar, Executive Director of BIAN. “UnionBank is well known for putting the customer first and being at the forefront of banking innovation across its country. As the needs of the customer continue to change, we’re excited to work with UnionBank and its technical experts. Together, through greater collaboration and the sharing of experience we can come to provide greater innovations across the globe.”