The Union Bank of the Philippines, one of the top-tier universal banks locally – reportedly introduced a pilot program focusing on BTC and ETH  custody and trading services for select retail clients. 

Specifically, the freshly built investment and trading offering released via a partnership with Switzerland-based crypto technology entity Metaco, with UnionBank going live on Metaco’s digital asset platform Harmonize. 

UnionBank previously forged an alliance with Metaco to collaborative work on the design of crypto trading services in January this year.

Licensed and supervised by the Philippines’ central bank, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), UnionBank has reportedly been displaying an active stance towards the exploration of the crypto sphere throughout these past years. 

In 2019, UnionBank released a payments-centric stablecoin pegged to the Philippine peso.

Henry Aguda, chief technology officer and chief transformation officer at UnionBank, additionally remarked that Metaco has been showing a critical attitude regarding the bank’s target to offer “customer-centric” services in the Philippines. 

“We are proud to continue UnionBank’s series of industry firsts, this time being the first regulated bank in the country allowing digital currency exchange features for clients.” He further claimed that UnionBank is one of the early regulated adopters of crypto in the nation. 

The update surfaces not long following Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos underscored the importance of adopting blockchain technology to master digital banking and digital transactions.

“The track record of UnionBank in creating opportunities through innovation and digital solutions in the banking sector is uncontested.” In an official presidential speech published in September 2022, Marcos referred to several related milestones by UnionBank.