Aboitiz digital bank ties up with AirAsia

MANILA, Philippines — The Aboitiz and AirAsia groups have entered into a partnership that will allow travelers to book their budget flights through financing schemes from UnionDigital Bank.

UnionDigital Bank, the digital arm of Union Bank of the Philippines, is tying up with Capital A Berhad units airasia Superapp and BigPay to promote air travel through financial technology.

Under the partnership, UnionDigital Bank will provide embedded finance in collaboration with BigPay within the airasia Superapp.

In particular, the partnership will offer a set of flexible arrangements for frequent flyers in paying their flight tickets. For one, it will give travelers the option to fly now and pay later.

Capital A CEO Tony Fernandes said the tie-up with UnionDigital Bank would change the way Filipinos plan their travel expenses. Based on a survey, Capital A reported that around 70 percent of Filipinos save up just to fulfill their bucket list.

“We look forward to working with UnionDigital Bank to redefine travel coupled with fintech as an accessible and enriching experience,” Fernandes said.

BigPay CEO Zubin Rada Krishman said the partnership with UnionDigital Bank would strengthen BigPay’s expansion into the Philippines where it seeks to gain a level of customer reach similar to Malaysia and Singapore.

“As tourism flourishes in the region, we are excited to elevate the end-to-end travel and payment experience of Filipinos through our collaboration with UnionDigital Bank and airasia Superapp,” Krishman said.

The airasia Superapp serves as the one-stop shop for travel needs of AirAsia passengers, offering multiple services like flights, hotels and ride-hailing. On the other hand, BigPay provides fintech products to customers in Southeast Asia.

UnionDigital Bank, for its part, operates as one of the six digital banks granted a license by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. Given its electronic nature, it maintains no physical outlets and processes all of its transactions end-to-end through online means.

In June, UnionDigital Bank received an additional capital of P900 million from Union Bank, as it gears up for the growth of digital banking as pushed by the government.