Union Bank of the Philippines

Union Bank of the Philippines more commonly known as UnionBank, is one of the largest banks in the Philippines, ranking seventh in terms of assets after its successful merger with smaller competitor International Exchange Bank. It is one of the most stable Philippine banks and is the host bank of the E-Card accounts of the members of the Government Service Insurance System.

History

UnionBank was formed as a government-owned commercial bank on January 19, 1982, the result of a merger between Union Savings and Mortgage Bank and Bancom Development Corporation, one of the leading development banks in the Philippines at the time and the parent of Union Savings and Mortgage. Starting in 1988, UnionBank was gradually privitized, with the Aboitiz Group of Companies acquiring 40% of UnionBank stock in the same year from Land Bank of the Philippines. In 1990, Insular Life Assurance Company and the Ramcar Group took 20% and 10% of the company, respectively. In July 1992, UnionBank had a successful IPO on the Philippine Stock Exchange.

In 1994, UnionBank successfully acquired International Corporate Bank (Interbank), a medium-sized commercial bank and one of the founding members of the BancNet ATM consortium (UnionBank is a member of MegaLink). A year before, UnionBank announced its intentions to be one of the five largest banks in the Philippines by 2000, and successfully reached this goal in 1999, a year ahead of schedule. It was also in this year that UnionBank was hailed for its advances in electronic banking.

Today, UnionBank is known for technological and banking advances, its discipline in the use of its financial resources, and its adaptation of a new business model, orienting itself more on the market focus and differentiation strategy as opposed to the traditional size and branch presence model which is commonly found among the business models of domestic banks.

In May 2006, UnionBank announced its intention to acquire International Exchange Bank, a similar-sized bank. If the acquisition is approved, it would be the first major bank merger of 2006. 98.84% of the outstanding shares of iBank were sold on June 5, with the merger being approved on August 28.

Subsidiaries and Affiliates

UnionBank is divided into the following subsidiaries and affiliates:

• First Union Direct
• First Union Plans
• UBP Capital Corporation
• Union Properties

Ownership

• Aboitiz Group of Companies: 49.629%
• Social Security System: 26.87%
• Insular Life Assurance Company: 18.75%
• Public stock: 4.751%

Awards

UnionBank is known as one of the best Philippine banks. It has received a multitude of awards, which are listed below:

• The Asian Banker: Excellence in Retail Financial Services (2004), Excellence in Credit Card Management Award (2004), Best Retail Bank in the Philippines (2001)
• Bankers Institute of the Philippines: Best in Functionality and Interactivity (UnionBank website) (2004)
• Philippine Web Awards: Best Banking and Finance Website (2001-2005), People's Choice Awardee (2000-2006), Yehey's Most Popular Website (2001)
• Euromoney: Best Managed Company in the Philippines (no. 3), Best Bank in Asia (no. 7), Best Small Company in Asia (no. 3), Best Website in Asia (no. 8) (2002)
• The Banker: Among the World's 25 Soundest Banks (1998-2001)
• FinanceAsia: Top 5 Corporations in E-Commerce Strategy in the Philippines (2001)
• Public Relations Society of the Philippines: Anvil Award for Excellence (1999)
• Philippine Clearing House Corporation: Most Advanced Bank in terms of Clearing and Clearing-related Processes
• Asiamoney: No. 6 in Foreign Currency Trading and No. 10 in Derivatives in the Philippines (3rd Treasury Poll of the East and Asia's emerging markets)
• Watson-Wyatt Worldwide: No. 1 Manager of Retirement Funds in the Philippines
• Social Security System: Best Collecting Bank for SSS Premium Payments (2002), Best Participating Financial Institution for SSS Housing Loans (2002)
• Telemarketing Philippines: Best Call Center & Customer Service Center in the Philippines, Financial Services Sector (1998)

Firsts

UnionBank is known for some notable firsts in the Philippine banking industry, which are listed below:

• UnionBank started the Philippines's first bank website, www.unionbankph.com
• UnionBank pioneered online banking in the Philippines
• UnionBank also started the Philippines's first electronic savings account, the EON Cyber Account. The EON program also brought the advent of electronic checking in the Philippines.

See also

• International Exchange Bank
• Land Bank of the Philippines
• List of Philippine companies
• MegaLink (the UnionBank ATM network)

External links

• UnionBank website