Since physical distancing measures have been implemented to prevent the spread of COVID-19, transactions have moved to digital channels and entrepreneurs have been looking into shifting to e-commerce.
This radical shift is evident as UBX, UnionBank’s fintech arm, recently announced that it has now surpassed the 13,000-mark in terms of the number of merchants and sellers that are part of its fintech ecosystem.
According to the company, the milestone was because of a recent surge in the number of sign-ups by Filipino entrepreneurs who are looking into investing more in e-commerce, amid the coronavirus 2019 outbreak and the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) that is currently in effect in Luzon and other key areas nationwide to contain the spread of COVID-19.
With the current number of partner merchants and sellers in its platforms, UBX expects to be able to continuously provide payment services in convenience stores and other brick-and-mortar establishments without issue during the ECQ period.
This can be said especially for the company’s i2i platform, with which the company recently started rolling out rapid and remote mobile-enabled ATM solutions in partnership with leading Irish financial services provider, Fexco. The partnership effectively expanded the fast-growing platform’s network of financial institutions that include rural banks, thrift banks, savings banks, cooperatives, and other non-banking financial institutions across the country.
