OneConnect announced today, their partnership with Union Bank’s wholly-owned fintech subsidiary UBX to build what they claim to be the country’s first blockchain enabled platform geared towards meeting the banking needs of MSMEs in the Philippines.

According to their press release, the blockchain enabled platform will be operational by 2019 and will be made more widely available by 2020. The platform’s supply chain financing will record crucial data on the blockchain to make it tamper-proof and traceable.

Aside from supply chain financing, the parties involved stated that the platform also covers a wide range of business finance needs such as multi channel loan applications, credit assessment, loan disbursement and anti-fraud checking. The platform is said to leverage OneConnect’s facial recognition technology, micro-expression interviewing technology, big data and AI.

OneConnect is technology arm of the Ping An, often referred to as the world’s most valuable the insurer, who recently set up their office in Sinagpore in late 2018.

UBX’s parent company, Unionbank is the 9th largest bank in the Philippines, the bank has recently ramped up their fintech efforts  significantly and has vowed to invest over US$9 Million in fintech annually.

This partnership is also far from being the group’s first initiative in blockchain, as recent as February this year, they partnered with IBM to launch a blockchain powered trade finance platform.

Around the same time frame, the bank also set up a “Bitcoin ATM” at its main branch to enable users to deposit or withdraw from a wide selection of cryptocurrencies.

Image Credit: UnionBank’s Facebook Page

This article first appeared on fintechnews.sg