Access to appropriate instruments to manage working capital requirements for small and medium enterprises is critical to narrowing the finance gap for SMEs.
The unique structure of the Financial Supply Chain offers vast potential to improve the prospects for thousands of entrepreneurs who are held back by a lack of fixed collateral and limited access to credit facilities by financial institutions.
Union Bank of the Philippines, the most digitized bank in the country, is committed to providing financial access to SMEs through these FSCs.
“UnionBank is very passionate about being at the forefront of assisting our SMEs, particularly in getting fast and easy access to credit. We will continue to innovate our products and platforms so that we can continue to adapt to your changing and evolving needs, particularly in these challenging and uncertain times,” said UnionBank EVP and Head of Commercial Banking Robert Abastillas during his welcoming remarks.
Recently, UnionBank held the first-ever SME Banking FSC Awards to honor five existing Supply Chain Community Anchors and 25 future-ready MSMEs who are all part of the Bank’s FSC platform.
The award aims to recognize the accomplishments and contributions of UnionBank’s existing FSC Anchors and their micro, small, and medium enterprise dealers. Aside from industry recognition, the awardees will enjoy various perks that are part of the bank’s efforts to support Filipino entrepreneurs.
These perks include being featured in UnionBank communication channels; free access to Day 8, on-demand webinars on Entrepreneurship, 1-on-1 business consultation with UnionBank Director Josiah Go, and getting the company tagged in the LinkedIn UB account; and company name being mentioned in post-event publications.
The event kicked off the ceremonies with the “Supply Chain Community Anchors Award (MSME Onboarding)” category, which recognized the top 3 Supply Chain Anchors with the highest number of onboarded MSME buyers in the FSC platform. The winners were SEOIL, Philippines Inc., Vitarich Corporation, and Pilmico Animal Nutrition Corporation (top 1, 2, and 3, respectively).
“We are deeply honored that SEAOIL Philippines is awarded as one of your Top Supply Chain Community Anchors for MSME dealers for 2021,” said SEAOIL Retail Business president and CFO Mark Yu.
“At SEAOIL, looking after our customers’ needs goes beyond just providing them with quality products, and we also want to help fuel a better future for them. And with the economy finally opening up after two years of recurrent lockdowns, we look forward to our continued partnership with UnionBank as we help more MSMEs grow their businesses and thrive in the new normal.”
The “Supply Chain Community Anchors Award, MSME Penetration Rate” category recognized the top 3 Supply Chain Anchors with the highest conversion rate of Buyers from their referred MSME community. The winners were Vitarich Corporation, Pilmico Animal Nutrition Corporation and Number 1 Supplier Inc. (top 1, 2 and 3, respectively).
“(I) thank everyone at UnionBank for your incredible work. You create opportunities by helping our customers to grow and expand their business. This is aligned with the company’s goal of building lasting relationships with our customers and business partners through our lifetime profitable partnership,” said Vitarich Comptroller Marian Dionisio. “On behalf of Viatrich Corp, I thank you for this recognition and for your continuous effort in providing help and support to our customers.”
For the “Supply Chain Community Anchor Award, MSME Volume” award, given to the Supply Chain Anchor with the highest volume of MSME buyers as of the end of December 2021, the winner was New Hope Bulacan Agriculture Inc.