DAVAO CITY, Philippines — In an effort to connect with an “unbanked” Filipinos to the financial system, the UnionBank unveiled its blockchain initiative to help the Rural bank industry in the Philippines.
In a press conference on Tuesday at Park Inn by Radisson Davao, UnionBank Chairman Dr. Justo Ortiz said that the project i2i is a real-time, cost-effective and secure retail payment system in the blockchain that seeks to connect rural bank into the country’s main financial network.
“One of our mandates is to promote financial inclusivity,” said Ortiz.
Arvie de Vera of the UnionBank fintech Business group head said “(R)ural bank themselves are financially excluded…cannot financially connect to one another so we thought about project i2i in that context and the solution was the blockchain base flat form that connected the rural banks on their own board and they could communicate real-time.”
“When they are connected now, this will allow real-time transform information and transformation of value so that opens domestic remittance and to UnionBanks international partnership access also to international” he added.
The first pilot partner of the project are Cantilan Bank in Surigao del Sur, PR Savings Bank, City Savings, Fairbank, and Progressive Bank, all approved by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. (davaotoday.com)
