MANILA -The Aboitiz Group’s Union Bank of the Philippines (UnionBank) and local cryptocurrency exchange operator Philippine Digital Asset Exchange (PDAX) Inc. have entered into an agreement to offer cryptocurrency payment services.
The non-binding accord forged by both firms aims to provide “cutting-edge solutions” for financial technology companies; technology companies; digital services companies; micro, small and medium enterprises and corporate clients of UnionBank through the crypto-as-a-service scheme.
Crypto-as-a-service provides a digital infrastructure for enterprises to facilitate transactions made in cryptocurrency.
“I wish to thank PDAX for embarking on this journey with UnionBank as we ideate, co-create, and ‘tech-up’ the organizations which aim to include crypto services in their key offerings, primarily those in the payments segment,” UnionBank fintech business group assistant vice president of sales Andrew Garcia said in a statement.
“The path to digitalization is very rarely a straight line, and so we always need partners like UnionBank who have taken up the mantle of industry leadership in order to put our industry firmly committed [to] that path. So, we signed this [agreement] today to join you to make digital services more accessible,” said Nichel Gaba, PDAX CEO and founder.
Garcia expressed hope the memorandum of understanding signed by UnionBank and PDAX would pave the way for a “more open and digitalized future.”UnionBank senior vice president for corporate banking Angelica Balangue said such services offered by PDAX and other fintech partners “clearly augment” the bank’s standard product offerings.
Cybersecurity threat
Meanwhile, Russia-based cybersecurity firm Kaspersky had warned against increasing phishing activities involving cryptocurrency, noting that cryptocurrency-related scams in the Philippines soared by 170 percent in the previous year.
Kaspersky recorded 64,080 crypto phishing events in the Southeast Asia region. On a global scale, cyberthreats grew by 40 percent to 5.04 million.
Cyberhackers exploit unsuspecting victims through phishing emails, tricking users into divulging their personal information.
UnionBank said the latest undertaking reinforces its Tech-Up Pilipinas advocacy, which serves as the cornerstone of its digital strategy.
The listed bank reported a net income of P3.4 billion in the first three months of the year while net revenues surged by 57 percent to P16.1 billion.
Its net loans and receivables climbed by 39 percent to P490 billion. Also, total deposits increased by 20 percent to almost P693 billion. INQ