Union Bank of the Philippines is still basking in the moment.

From Singapore to China, all the way to Malacañang Palace, an outpouring of congratulations floods Union Bank for the immensely successful inaugural Innovation Festival held in San Pedro, Laguna, and capped with the launch of its Innovation Campus.

Indeed, President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. was so impressed he described the innovation initiatives of Union Bank as “precisely the kind of innovations, the kind of forward-thinking, operations, and actions that we will need, not only in the private sector but also in the public sector, so that we in government can be participants in the new digital world, wherein we are living in more and more in our day-to-day lives.”

The President lauded the Bank’s track record in creating opportunities through innovation and digital solutions in the banking sector, which he described as “uncontested.”

Marcos said the government should take advantage of the efficiencies of “digital banking, digital transactions, and the digital way of doing business” at the local and national levels. It would be neglectful of his administration not to recognize the growing trend.

“Not only adjust to it but position ourselves to take full advantage of it,” Marcos told the mostly FinTech crowd. He added Union Bank’s initiative fits perfectly into the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ three-year Digital Payments Transformation Road Map, which promotes the digitalization of payments toward furthering financial inclusion.

The President made special mention of the Innovation Campus that could intensify the nation’s collective initiatives to bring our banking and information and communications technology industries into the future, simultaneous with unveiling the headquarters of UnionDigital, the digital banking arm of UnionBank, and the first-ever Asian Institute of Digital Transformation.

Marcos also directed Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual to discuss the many opportunities presented by the Campus and UBP’s innovations efforts that the government can “fully intend to take advantage of.”

The innovation festival showcased numerous innovative digital solutions, applications, and the latest trends in FinTech, EduTech, Data Science and Artificial Intelligence, Open Finance, the Metaverse, and many more developed by UnionBank, in collaboration with its various partners in government and the private sector, through the Bank’s advocacy dubbed, “Tech-up Pilipinas.”

Special mention to James Ileto, UBP’s SVP for Corporate Media and Reputation Management, and his loyal partner Bianca Dinglasan-Gelido, the associate corporate media and reputation management head, who put all the stops to make the media coverage as smooth as possible for the members of the press.

The tandem of James and Bianca saved the day when their hired PR group, Agatep, forgot to provide breakfast for the invited media people who were at the venue as early as 6 a.m. Hats off also to Caths Jalandoni of CSJ, the third-party organizer of the event, who offered her crew’s meal for the media.

If only the Agatep team’s ineptness knew some bound.