RACONTEURPH

UnionBank awards partners, intros new rewards program

At an event dubbed as "Partners Appreciation Night," Union Bank of the Philippines (UnionBank) awarded seven of its technology partners for their outstanding contribution to the bank's digital transformation journey, namely IBM, Deloitte, Via Appia, Trends & Technologies, SMS GT, Digivation, and Questronix.

Now on its second year, UnionBank's annual appreciation night aims to thank its vendors who have helped in elevating the engagement level from simply being vendor-to-vendee relationship to one that celebrates openness, collaboration, and agility, as well as shares the bank's purpose and values of integrity, magis, and ubuntu.

In 2018, UnionBank accumulated a multitude of awards for its first fully digital branch called The ARK, its customer service, SME product suite, application programming interface (API) platform, and employee engagement from prestigious award-giving entities such as The Asset Triple A Digital Awards 2018, Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards 2019, Asian Banking & Finance Retail Banking Awards 2019, and HR Asia Awards 2019. The appreciation night is a manifestation of UnionBank's recognition of its partners' role in achieving these awards.

Witnessed by 34 vendors from the fields of information technology, fintech, and SME industries, the event also featured the bank's digital event registration system, digital account opening for PlayEveryday, and an intelligent humanoid service robot soon to be deployed in the bank's digital branches.

UnionBank's PlayEveryday is the first and only gamified rewards program in the Philippines. Utilizing blockchain technology, PlayEveryday is another testament to the bank's digital expertise. The program offers both debit and credit card variants that are VISA-enabled to cater to different spending habits.

Powered by the UnionBank Online mobile application, customers can enjoy several benefits from the time they open an account until when they actually use it. PlayEveryday can be opened anytime, anywhere through an online application form. The debit card variant can be opened instantly through the digital account opening process embedded on the mobile app, enabling the customer to use the account upon application.

Making PlayEveryday attractive to millennials, customers can choose an avatar that suits their personality and create an alias for their profile. Some examples include GuyPro for the adventurous ones, JohnSport for the athletic ones, and Shopahochic for the shopaholics. Earning of points does not only happen when spending, but also when saving and accomplishing certain activities and missions. Customers can rack up points and earn badges, letting them rise on the PlayEveryday leaderboards.

Simplifying the process of rewards redemption, customers can select from a catalog of more than 200 rewards items, add them to a digital cart in a way similar to online shopping, and receive the rewards vouchers instantly through UnionBank Online.