The Supreme Court of the Philippines (SC)  signed a Memorandum of Agreement with Union Bank of the Philippines (UnionBank) for the bank to develop an ePayment solution for the Judiciary.

The Judiciary ePayment Solution will involve an application designed to provide the courts the options to receive fees and payments digitally from litigants, their counsels, and representatives in a safe, secure, real-time, 24/7 basis from anywhere at their convenience.

Led by Chief Justice Diosdado M. Peralta during the signing of the MOA, the Project will be greatly beneficial to the courts and the general public as it will streamline the processes on the assessment and payment of court fees. Court Administrator Jose Midas P. Marquez and UnionBank Board Vice-Chair Dr. Justo A. Ortiz were the principal signatories in the MOA.

Following the MOA with UnionBank, the SC is also inviting other banks and ePayment service providers to submit their proposals to integrate their ePayment service with the Judiciary ePayment Solution.

Chief Justice Peralta thanked UnionBank for its technical assistance adding that

“It comes at a very opportune time as the Philippine Judiciary is currently in the midst of its quest for digital transformation and at a time when online service is a great advantage due to the COVID-19 pandemic when face-to-face transactions are discouraged whenever possible.”

The Judiciary ePayment System will be rolled out nationwide to first and second-level courts with pilot courts.

For his part, UnionBank Vice-Chair Ortiz said:

“We are especially proud of this engagement because the Supreme Court of the Philippines is an institution of great trust with deep historical and psychological roots in Filipino lives as guardian of the Constitution, final arbiter of our laws, and guarantor that we are all equal under the law. So, we, in UnionBank, are very cognizant of the trust the Supreme Court has, in turn, vested in us to deliver on this project and value greatly this opportunity to be of service to the Filipino people.”

Featured image credit: Mike Gonzalez (TheCoffee), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons