Referred to as Union Bank, the Union Bank of Philippines, announced recently that it is introducing yet another crypto service for its customers.

According to the financial institution, a select few users of its mobile app would be given the facility of exchanging bitcoin and other digital currencies, without requiring a separate wallet for this purpose.

Crypto exchange

Unionbank is working on becoming the Philippines’ first universal bank that would allow users to make use of its mobile app for exchanging cryptocurrencies.

According to the lender, users would be able to use its banking app directly for buying and selling different cryptocurrencies, such as bitcoin.

This would save them from having to use a third-party wallet. The banking institution believes that blockchain technology can power the future of the banking world.

The head of the blockchain, digital asset markets, and application programming, Cathy Casas talked about the development.

She said that the bank was aware that customers are looking for crypto services, particularly the younger generation and the pandemic only accelerated this demand.

Future-ready

Unionbank has already gained recognition in the Philippines as a crypto-friendly institution and it is also on the list of the top 10 institutions in the country in terms of assets under management.

Almost a year ago, the financial institution had announced that it was preparing to introduce a pilot study for crypto and it had unveiled its plan of facilitating crypto trading services back in January.

Initially, the bank is planning on offering its new exchange functionality only to a select few users, who will be chosen randomly.

However, the bank explained that it would eventually roll out the service on a wider scale in the near future.

Henry Aguda, the Chief Transformation Officer, the Chief Technology and Operations Officer, and Senior Executive Vice President, also talked about the new development.

He said that this move would help Unionbank become future-ready and it would also be able to use cryptocurrencies to fulfill the needs of its customers.

The metaverse

According to the top executive, the crypto exchange services via the app are just one of the projects that the financial institution is working on, as it gears up for entering the metaverse.

Another initiative that Unionbank has taken in order to move in this direction is the partnership it has made with Art of Dreams.

The announcement about the said partnership with the NFT game had been announced back in April. In the next few months, the institution will also introduce a Metaverse Center of Excellence.

There are a number of digital banks in the Philippines, such as Maya, which are already offering crypto exchange services via their respective platforms.

However, the decision of Unionbank to do so is considered unique because it is the first major traditional lending institution to do so.

In addition, it has also become a licensed crypto exchange. The license is issued by the central bank of the country, Bankgo Sentral ng Pilipinas, which oversees crypto service providers in the country.