Union Bank transforming up to 40 branches into digital ‘Arks’ for 2019

Union Bank of the Philippines is planning to transform up to 40 more branches into digital hubs next year to migrate more customers to digital banking.

Citing an in-house study, Union Bank president and CEO Edwin Bautista noted that “digital customers” have four times the deposit balance compared with a non-digital customers, and six times the number of transactions. And we have 12 times more income per account.”

“Ang laki ng difference, so the goal now is to move as many into the digital,” told reporters in an interview in Makati City on Wednesday.

“Next year, we are going to have between 30 to 40 more Arks,” he said.

An Ark is a fully digital bank, where clients are served by “ambassadors” instead of tellers and transactions are done using tablets instead of customers falling in line at the counter.

The bank is converting 15 branches into Arks this year.

Bautista noted that the bank is investing P2 billion to P3 billion in its digital push.

“We are not building new branches, we’re just changing them because we are not adding branches anymore ... The goal is to convert as many customers to digital banking,” he said. —VDS, GMA News