Banking made as easy as saying ‘hello’
Asia United Bank (AUB) marked the fifth anniversary of HelloMoney recently by bringing the convenience of its electronic wallet to the Parañaque Integrated Terminal Exchange (PITX).
A shorter and simplified version of the popular show The Amazing Race gave participants firsthand experience in using the e-wallet to pay for purchases inside PITX to get the clues for each portion of the race.
A race seemed like an appropriate way to celebrate a product that has put AUB ahead of many competitors, including bigger banks, in the e-wallet market.
Although the bank was not prescient, it could not have chosen a better time to launch its HelloMoney e-wallet. In November 2019, when HelloMoney was launched, the world was not expecting the devastation of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The pandemic lockdowns resulted in the exponential growth of digital technology, including cashless transactions using e-wallets.
Wilfredo Rodriguez, Jr., AUB executive vice president who heads operations and the information technology unit, says the launch of the e-wallet was simply part of the bank’s growth trajectory.
“Ever since the bank was founded in 1997, the thrust has been the effective use of technology to allow AUB to offer customized banking products and value-added services that will enhance customer experience,” he says.
AUB was among the last commercial banks given the license to operate in 1997, so “we had to find a way to compete against the more established banks, and we believe digital banking was the way to go,” he adds. AUB has been offering digital bank products since Day 1 of its operations, he adds.
But the “digital approach” was not easy to sell as even bankers, much less bank depositors, were unfamiliar with the system.
“It took more than 20 years and a pandemic for the public to adapt to the mainstream digitalization of bank products,” Rodriguez says. “The pandemic made it easier for us to convince people about the merits of going digital because of the lockdowns that forced them to embrace digital technology.” People had to shelter in place to avoid contracting the deadly virus.
The new normal that COVID-19 created made it easier for AUB to market its products. “[D]igitalization has always been in our DNA, and our products became in vogue and widely accepted [with less marketing effort],” he says.
6M customers
AUB president Manuel Gomez says with a total customer base of six million, “we can no longer stay quiet” about the bank’s e-wallet service.
“We started HelloMoney with a simple yet powerful vision: to make banking as effortless as greeting a friend ‘hello …’ We know we are still far from being the dominant e-wallet player in the local market, but we will relentlessly eye for bigger market share to reach more unbanked and underserved Filipinos,” Gomez says.
The AUB president says the bank aims to build a reputation for constant innovation, expanded global reach and enhanced user experience, in line with its mission to make financial services accessible to Filipinos.
AUB, through HelloMoney in particular, is a pioneer in embracing the Philippines’ national ID system. While many financial institutions and retail establishments hesitate to accept the national ID because it does not have a person’s signature, AUB finds that the biometrics component of the proof of identification is more reliable and safe.
In July, AUB became the first Philippine bank to integrate the eVerify system of the Philippine Statistics Authority. Bank customers who have registered for the PSA national ID may open an account without documents proving their identity. eVerify’s advanced facial recognition technology allows for real-time matching of a person’s face with the National ID registry.
“You don’t need a physical ID to open an account with HelloMoney because your face is now your ID,” Gomez says.
HelloMoney, he adds, also has the lowest InstaPay transaction fee of P8 for money transfers and zero convenience fees for billers. “These aren’t just features; they’re our commitment to financial inclusion,” the AUB president says.
AUB is planning to expand HelloMoney services by offering microinsurance and digital savings.
It aims to further expand its global reach and widen its acceptance network. It will introduce more enhancements in user experience while further simplifying features for easier transaction flows, smart transaction categorization and one-tap frequent actions.
“We aim to make mobile banking easier and help more merchants grow their business globally by bringing HelloMoney closer to more users,” Gomez says, as he stresses that AUB remains “committed to making financial services more accessible, secure, and simple for every Filipino so that managing money becomes as easy as saying ‘hello.’”
