Announcements


  • AUB taps Creamline as HelloMoney Brand Ambassador

    Asia United Bank (AUB) partnered with its parent company Republic Biscuit Corporation (REBISCO) to help promote financial inclusion through REBISCO-owned professional women's volleyball team Creamline Cool Smashers.

    In a contract signing event held last March 5, 2024 at the Nostalg Ballroom, Joy Nostalg Center, AUB Chairman Jonathan Ng said, "By partnering with the Creamline Cool Smashers, we are bringing the benefits of AUB's HelloMoney to a greater number of people."

    HelloMoney is an e-wallet AUB launched in 2019 as part of its digital arsenal that include pioneering initiatives and innovations ; from end-to-end digital account opening, to enabling clients to make banking easy through their mobile phone and merchants to sustain their businesses.

    Wilfredo Rodriguez Jr., AUB executive vice president and head of its Operations and Technology Group, said: "The Creamline Cool Smashers' success has been instrumental in inspiring the youth through the power of sports. By being brand ambassadors of HelloMoney, we can create a positive impact through financial inclusion and sports."

    Alan Acero, team manager of Creamline Cool Smashers, welcomed the collaboration that will help advance the team's goals, on and off the field. "We envision this relationship to be a mutually supportive one. We hope to let HelloMoney be promoted through us in a creative and compelling manner, especially with a huge, active, and highly engaged volleyball fan base," he said.

    The excitement surrounding the partnership was further underscored by Alyssa Valdez, the captain of the Creamline Cool Smashers: â??We gained a new teammate in HelloMoney. With this new addition, we do hope we can become better and achieve greater things together. With HelloMoney by our side, there's no limit to what we can achieve."

    In photo are key executives from AUB (top row, center, in white jackets): Leslie Villegas, vice president and head of Financial Technology Unit; Eileen Ng, Office of the Chairman; Wilfredo Rodriguez Jr.; and key executives from Creamline (eight to ninth from left) Jonathan Ng, chairman of AUB and Action Republic Corporation, and Alan Acero, team manager of Creamline Cool Smashers. Present as well is Ms. Alyssa Valdez, team captain, and the rest of the Creamline Cool Smashers.

  • AUB posts record-high profitability in 2023

    Asia United Bank (AUB) and its subsidiaries posted a consolidated net income of P8.3 billion in 2023, a 32% increase from the previous year's P6.3 billion and the highest in its 26-year history.

    Based on unaudited financial results, the latest income figure translates to a return on equity (ROE)of 18.6% and a return on assets (ROA) of 2.38% - both record highs since the bank had its initial public offering (IPO) in 2013. The ROE and ROA rose from the previous year's 16.1% and 1.9%, respectively.

    "We attribute this vastly improved performance to our robust loan growth, more profitable net interest margin (NIM), continuously improving credit quality, and higher operating efficiency," said AUB president Manuel A. Gomez.

    Amidst the environment of rising interest rates, AUB saw its NIM widen by 17% to P15billion from 2022. Credit quality, as measured by net non-performing loans (NPL), stood at 0.58%, well below the industry's 1.60%. This led to reduced loan loss provisions of P1.2 billion, 27% lower than in 2022. While operating expenses rose to P6.5 billion in 2023, the bank managed to improve its operating efficiency, as measured by its cost-to-income which further dropped to 36.3% from the previous year's 37.6%.

    Total assets grew by 4% to P355.1 billion while total deposits rose to P292 billion, with the bulk still comprised of low-cost CASA deposits.

    Equity increased by 23% to P49.1 billion year-on-year, translating to a common equity tier 1 ratio of 16.88% and a capital adequacy ratio 17.49% - both well above the regulatory threshold. In 2023, AUB declared a 50% stock dividend and paid out cash dividends of P2.33 per share (P2 pre stock dividend and P0.33 post stock dividend) in three tranches.

    "With our stronger performance in 2023, we expect to solidify our lead among the country's top ten listed universal banks in terms of compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) on key indicators since AUB was listed on the bourse in 2013," said Mr. Gomez. "However, with interest rates expected to remain elevated this year, and global shocks a continuing concern, we have to remain agile to sustain our performance."

  • Market leader AUB to further boost RMB forex trades

    Asia United Bank (AUB) plans to further increase its foreign exchange trading of the Chinese renminbi (RMB) which is rapidly gaining market share in international payments and cross-border transactions.

    "We assure you that we can sustain, and probably even improve on the nearly 300% year-on-year growth on (RMB-PHP) clearing volumes and 70% growth in FX trading volume in the coming years. We have no plans of relinquishing our rank as the Top Bank in these categories and hopefully garner all three (awards) in the not-too-distant future," said AUB Head of Treasury Antonio V. Agcaoili Jr. who accepted two awards recently from the Philippine RMB Trading Community on behalf of AUB.

    Mr. Agcaoili made the remarks after accepting on behalf of AUB the "Top RMB Clearing Volume Award" and "Top RMBPHP Trading Volume Award" given by the Philippine RMB Trading Community set up by 13 member banks in 2018. Chairman Hu Xinquan, country head of the Bank of China (Hong Kong) Ltd. - Manila Branch, led the Appreciation Event last Dec. 6 at the Manila House Private Club.

    "When the RMBPHP Community was launched in 2018, we made a conscious decision to take an aggressive competitive stance on this initiative, unaware of the potential benefits it would provide," Mr. Agcaoili said. "We consider this feat a "culmination" of our efforts to dominate the industry in this segment of the market. It is a testament to our belief that our ability to compete does not necessarily boil down to a bank's asset size or the geographical reach of its branch network. Our rank as a mid-size universal bank should not hinder our aim to achieve the efficiency and effectiveness required to deliver value-added banking products and services to our clients."

    From 2021 to 2022, AUB was able to grow its RMB clearing item count by 134% while volume increased by 295%.For RMB FX, item count increased by 32% while volume jumped by 67% during the period.

    Mr. Agcaoili attributed AUB's success in RMB trading to pricing, execution, and "good, old relationship management."

    In addition to having a Proprietary Trading Desk that is headed by a professional trader with more than four decades of experience, the bank also relies on having a highly proactive and responsive IT team that developed most of its frontline platforms in-house, which led to the flexibility and scalability of its IT infrastructure. Its front-end system includes a fully automated Straight-Thru-Processing (STP) payment platform that has garnered awards from AUB's correspondent banking partners for its "almost flawless" record of processing over 99% of transactions "in an error-free manner and consistently over an extended period," he said.

    The bank also invested on relationship management that focused on preaching the benefits of maintaining both PHP and RMB deposit accounts as "settlement accounts" for all clients' forex trades and other transactional needs. "These three pillars were instrumental in achieving the goals we set for ourselves early in the game to gain a significant share of the RMB-PHP market," said Mr. Agcaoili.

    As of the first half of 2023, China was the Philippines' largest trading partner, largest import source, and largest export market, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority. China comprised 16% of the country's total exports during the period. Joey R. Jacob, AUB senior vice president and head of its Foreign Exchange Desk, said: "While the fundamental side shows a slow export recovery (in China) amidst global weakening trends, it is at least improving. Thus, the most optimistic scenario for the RMB versus PHP is to test 8.10 to 8.16 level next year. The People's Bank of China is expected to mitigate the recent Moody's downgrade of its rating outlook (on China and) has been consistently supporting the RMB at daily fixing. This is sending a strong message to support the yuan whatever it takes."

  • AUB e-wallet HelloMoney now accepted in South Korea, Malaysia, HK

    AUB's partnership with Alipay+ enables scan-to-pay feature for cross-border payments

    After becoming the first Philippine bank to offer an e-wallet that can be used for cross-border payments, Asia United Bank (AUB) is in a race to expand the coverage of its HelloMoney abroad.

    Through AUB's partnership with Alipay+, a suite of cross-border payments, marketing and digitalization solutions operated by Ant International, HelloMoney users can now make e-wallet payments in South Korea, Malaysia, and Hong Kong SAR by simply scanning the QR code displayed in merchant stores in these countries. This makes cross-border payments using HelloMoney now possible in four countries and region, including Japan.

    In South Korea, HelloMoney users can scan the ZeroPay QR, the country's public QR-code-based digital payment service available in over 1.7 million merchants nationwide. The country has been making its digital payment services more seamless for Asian tourists visiting South Korea by connecting local merchants with various mobile payment methods foreign tourists use.

    In Malaysia, HelloMoney users can scan DuitNow QR, the country's National QR Standard operated by PayNet, which is available in 1.8 million merchants in Malaysia. This allows merchants to accept real-time payments from customers using various banks and e-wallets.

    "We will continue to bring HelloMoney closer to more users to make mobile banking easier and for more merchants to help their business grow and thrive in the post-pandemic world. With Alipay+'s global presence through its integration with local merchants worldwide, our HelloMoney users will have a wider reach in payment acceptance while ensuring a safe and secure digital transaction," said Wilfredo Rodriguez Jr., AUB executive vice president and head of Operations & Information Technology.

    Launched by AUB in 2019 ahead of the COVID-19 pandemic, HelloMoney enables users to open an account without going to a physical branch and perform bank-to-bank fund transfers, buy prepaid load, remit money through PeraPadala, pay via QR code, settle bills, withdraw via ATM, and shop online using HelloMoney's very own virtual Mastercard. Members of state-owned Pag-IBIG Fund can also manage their account and perform banking transactions through the Pag-IBIG Loyalty Card Plus via HelloMoney.

    "Over the years, AUB has been building a digital arsenal that include pioneering initiatives and innovations â?? from end-to-end digital account opening, to enabling clients to make banking easy through their mobile phone and merchants to sustain their businesses even with restricted mobility during the pandemic. With Alipay+'s global presence through its integration with local merchants worldwide, our HelloMoney users will have a wider reach in payment acceptance while ensuring a safe and secure digital transaction," added Mr. Rodriguez. Over a million HelloMoney users will also be able to take advantage of more competitive exchange rates compared to prevailing market rates.

    As of end-October 2023, the number of HelloMoney transactions has reached 30 million, a 65% increase compared with 19 million in the same period a year ago. The value of transactions reached P115 billion, 82% higher than year-ago's P63 billion.

  • AUB posts record-high P6.1B net income as of end-Q3

    Asia United Bank (AUB) and its three subsidiaries posted a record-high consolidated net income of P6.1 billion from January to September 2023, representing a 32% increase from P4.6 billion a year ago, on the back of sustained business volume and margin growth, and higher fee-based income.

    "With our stronger performance in the first three quarters, we expect to maintain our lead among the country's top ten listed universal banks in terms of compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) on key indicators since AUB was listed on the bourse in 2013," said AUB president Manuel A. Gomez.

    From 2013 to 2022, AUB topped the list with a CAGR of 18% in net income, 14% in total assets, 17% in total loans, and 16% in total deposits, according to publicly disclosed audited figures.

    In the first three quarters of 2023, the bank's ROE rose to 19.4% from 16.4% while ROA grew to 2.5% from 1.9% year-on-year (YOY).

    Total operating income for the nine-month period grew 21% YOY to P13.3 billion as net interest income jumped by 20% to P11.2 billion due to business volume growth and increased yields. Fee-based income rose 27% to P2.1 billion YOY.

    More robust corporate and consumer loans boosted total loan volume by 7% to P188.2 billion as confidence in the economy continued to improve. This resulted to a wider net interest margin of 4.9% from the previous year's 4.1%. Strong contributions to its fee-based income mainly came from AUB's operating activities such as trading businesses, credit cards, AUB PayMate, and remittance.

    While its loan volume swelled, the group was able to maintain its asset quality. Its net non-performing loans (NPL) ratio stood at 0.67% and gross NPL ratio stood at 2.14%, both below the banking industry's 1.37% and 3.11%, respectively, according to the latest data released by the BSP. AUB recognized provisions of P1.1 billion year-to-date, 12% above the P1.0 billion in the same period last year, strengthening its NPL coverage ratio to 107.0% as of September 30, 2023, from 89.1% the previous year.

    Loan growth was matched by an uptick in deposits, which climbed 8% to P284.5 billion from P262.3 billion YOY. Low-cost CASA (current account/savings account) deposits comprised 70.6% of the bank's total deposit base while its loan-to-deposit ratio stood at a healthy 66.2%.

    Operating expenses for the nine-month period rose 12% to P4.8 billion, primarily from the compensation increases and transaction volume-related expenses. However, AUB managed to keep its cost-to-income ratio down to 35.8% from the previous year's 38.6%.

    In the third quarter (July to September 2023) alone, the group recorded a P2.0-billion net income, 15% higher than the P1.7 billion in the same quarter last year as net interest income and non-interest income rose while provisions for credit losses fell.

    The bank's asset base expanded by 8% to P344.0 billion, while equity increased by 20% to P45.5 billion. This translated to a common equity tier 1 ratio of 16.12% and a capital adequacy ratio 16.77%, both well above the BSP's threshold.

    "While we are seeing that the domestic economy has emerged strongly from the pandemic and many sectors are now on the path to recovery, we remain cautious of the confluence of global shocks that are unravelling. We expect monetary policy to remain hawkish, with inflation still not kept at bay. On the other hand, we see plenty of room for growth and collaboration, particularly in digital transformation." said Mr. Gomez.