dotdailydose
Closing large gaps in financial inclusion and MSME development in the Philippines has urged regulators to establish reforms such as open finance. In the simplest definition, open finance enables financial institutions to share data with each other through APIs and white-label products. The lack of access to consumer financial data handicaps financial institutions in providing key financial services such as lending and insurance causing the country’s large unbanked population to remain underserved. Open finance helps solve and alleviate this significant barrier to progression and inclusion.
Last June 2021, Bangko Sentral Pilipinas (BSP) approved the new guidelines for the Open Finance Framework, allowing “consent-driven data portability, interoperability, and collaborative partnerships among financial institutions and third-party providers (TPPs).”
Not just any open finance player
UBX, the fintech subsidiary of Union Bank of the Philippines (UnionBank), has already established its open finance footprint since 2018 with i2i – the country’s widest financial network and banking-as-a-service solution for financial service providers nationwide, boasting of hundreds of member institutions and thousands of agents to date.
Driving the momentum is xpanse, the newest addition to UBX’s portfolio of first-in-industry ventures – further solidifying UBX’s overall leadership in open finance. The xpanse platform provides a comprehensive suite of data, insights and solutions through direct APIs. Banks, fintechs and startups will be able to assess customers’ eligibility for products and services much faster and build highly-personalized products that are relevant to consumers with just a few lines of code.
xpanse onboards Alibaba Cloud as first partner
Alibaba Cloud has partnered with xpanse to provide eKYC solutions to businesses. Alibaba Cloud provides Zoloz eKYC(Electronic Know Your Customer) solution to boost efficiency, reinforce system security by digitalizing the identity verification process of financial institutions and ventures. With Zoloz now in xpanse, developers can easily integrate cutting-edge eKYC technology towards their products and services through a single API integration. This e-wallet security technology helps financial institutions meet regulatory compliance more easily.
“Alibaba Cloud shares UBX’s mission of enabling a financially inclusive society through accessible financial services, especially in the new normal. We believe our proven technologies in the e-wallet industry could assist UBX in promoting financial inclusion and equipping financial institutions in the Philippines with advanced solutions that operate seamlessly and reliably for end users,” said Allen Guo, Country Manager for the Philippines, Alibaba Cloud Intelligence.
Gearing up for the future
As xpanse builds the biggest open finance platform and community in the Philippines, the team is actively networking with multiple partners across different sectors.
“Open Finance is significantly changing the way financial institutions interact with each other and their customers. xpanse opens more transformational opportunities for these institutions to evolve their business through our already proven expertise in open finance and financial technology. The future of finance is here as xpanse pioneers services that will not only impact inclusion for Filipinos to formal banking and financing but also provide startups, financial institutions a way to use data for innovations and development.” shared John Januszczak, President and CEO of UBX.
About UBX – UBX is the financial technology venture studio and fund of UnionBank of the Philippines. UBX is predicated on a future where financial services are invisible: seamlessly embedded into the experiences and activities that truly matter to businesses and people.
For partnerships, email us at [email protected]. For more information about the company and this article, please visit www.ubx.ph or contact [email protected].
