Union Bank of the Philippines (UnionBank), one of the country’s most innovative banks, has transformed its customer onboarding and credit decisioning process using FICO® platform. Following its $700 million acquisition of Citibank’s local consumer banking business in 2022, which transferred approximately one million customers, UnionBank deployed FICO platform to seamlessly integrate Citibank’s IT systems and launch its credit decision engine (CDE). This transformation has enabled the bank to process more than 80% of applications straight-through, reducing onboarding times to just five to 15 minutes and expanding credit access to underserved populations. This achievement underscores UnionBank’s commitment to advancing financial inclusion in the Philippines, where high digital penetration provides a unique opportunity to address the needs of the underbanked. The rapid deployment of FICO platform in just nine months highlights UnionBank’s agility and ability to balance customer experience with operational efficiency. “FICO platform has been instrumental in helping us integrate Citibank’s systems while improving operational efficiency and customer experience,” said Manoj Varma, consumer banking head at UnionBank. “As a result, we have achieved record-breaking growth while expanding financial inclusion across the Philippines.” Expanding financial inclusion In the Philippines, financial institutions face significant challenges in serving the underbanked population, which includes many gig workers and consumers with thin or no credit histories. Limited availability of credit information has traditionally slowed onboarding processes and excluded large segments of the population from accessing credit. However, the country’s high digital adoption and geographic spread make it an ideal environment for innovative, branchless banking solutions. UnionBank’s CDE powered by FICO platform, was designed to address these challenges. By leveraging advanced analytics and alternative data, the CDE has enabled UnionBank to score and assess customers who were previously underserved. This includes integrating bureau data and new methods for evaluating creditworthiness, allowing UnionBank to create comprehensive customer profiles and expand credit opportunities, while effectively managing risk. The CDE also incorporates risk-based verification strategies to accelerate approvals for low-risk applicants, while maintaining rigorous checks for higher-risk segments. This tailored approach ensures that credit is granted responsibly, while reducing manual interventions, speeding up the process, and enhancing customer satisfaction. These innovations align with UnionBank’s mission to make financial services more accessible across the Philippines’ archipelago. Key achievements of UnionBank’s transformation include: • Record-breaking growth: Reached peak volumes of 50,000 new credit card and personal loan accounts per month • Enhanced efficiency: Straight-through processing for more than 80% of applications, reducing onboarding time to five to 15 minutes • Automation at scale: Automated 30–40% of credit decisioning processes, minimizing manual interventions and errors • Financial inclusion: Leveraged alternative data to expand credit access for underbanked populations • Seamless integration: Successfully integrated UnionBank and Citibank systems within nine months UnionBank is further leveraging FICO platform to strengthen customer management, with 2024 marking the addition of advanced decisioning for credit card limits and real-time authorisations. This reflects the bank’s ongoing effort to simplify and improve the customer experience with a fully integrated decisioning system. “UnionBank has shown how technology isn’t just about algorithms and efficiency — it’s about empowering people,” said Nikhil Behl, head of software at FICO. “Through FICO platform, they’ve built a scalable and inclusive onboarding process that is both efficient and customerfocused.” “UnionBank took on the daunting task of adopting and enhancing Citibank’s systems while integrating their own policies and processes,” said Regan Goble, risk analytics senior manager at Westpac NZ. Redisseminated by The Asian Banker
