UnionBank of the Philippines is planning to become the very first universal bank in the Philippines that will soon facilitate crypto exchange within its mobile application. Users of UnionBank will be able to buy and sell cryptocurrencies directly from the said banking application.
UnionBank said in an interview with ABS-CBN, a broadcasting network in the Philippines, that the blockchain will become a source of power in the future of banking. Cathy Casas, the head of digital asset markets, blockchain, and application programming, said that “At the same time, we also recognize that cryptocurrency has become one of the services that most of our customers are already searching for, especially those from our younger generation, and this demand was also accelerated by the pandemic.”
As one of the top ten banks in the Philippines, UnionBank has already built and established itself as a crypto-friendly institution. There was an announcement a year ago that there were going to be preparations to pilot a custody service for crypto currencies, and in the first month of this year, UnionBank revealed their plan to facilitate crypto trading.
The said exchange functionality will be offered soon to pre-selected users of the banking application, randomly. UnionBank clarified that this will aim for a wider rollout in the future.
The in-app crypto exchange feature was also said to be one of the few features that the bank is working on as it approaches its closest step to entering the metaverse. Their partnership with Art of Dreams, an NFT game, became an initiative. Other than that, the bank also plans to launch a Metaverse Center of Excellence in the following months.
Although the digital bank Maya already offers exchange options for crypto assets, UnionBank, as a licensed cryptocurrency exchange, will now become the very first traditional lender to be administered in the country.
