Union Bank of the Philippines (UnionBank) launched another service that will enable micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSME) to digitize their businesses. UPay is an all-in-one payment acceptance hub that offers different financial services and solutions.

By integrating the different services in one platform, UPAY simplifies the process making it easy for MSME to adapt to digitalization.

UPAY, allows business owners to collect payments by simply sending a link that contains the amount that needs to be paid. They can also pay through various payment channels including Instapay and UB Online, as well as over the counter with partnered branches such as 7-11 and ECPay outlets.

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Early this year, UnionBank launched the MSME Business Banking Hub to address the pain points of establishing businesses in the country: entry to digital space, financing, and loans. The fourth pain point is enabling and receiving payments.

"The MSME Business Banking App is a platform to access and manage their financial-related needs, whether it be billing, paying suppliers, or even paying government transactions," said Manuel Santiago, chief mass market and financial inclusion executive, UnionBank.

Modes of payment

UPAY provides a checkout facility and accepts all modes of payment from fund transfer, over-the-counter payments, e-wallets, debit cards to credit cards, enabling them to complete the transaction at the point of sale.

Ana Delgado, EVP, and chief digital channel officer, emphasized that while it is similar to Bux, UBX Philippines (a company managed and operated by UnionBank) end-to-end payment platform, UPAY offers other services such as loans, which is not available on Bux.

"The MSME Banking App has a much bigger roadmap including providing other banking services and other financial services for businesses," Delgado said. "We're actually leveraging the box platform to extend some of the services that are available there through the MSME Business Banking App."