panel discussions featuring global players and innovators. In photo (from left): UNIPaaS VP Business
Development Noa Gastfreund, Worx Co-Founder and CEO Keren Aviasad, Guestry Payments Business
Lead Alisa Applebaum, UnionDigital Bank President and CEO Henry Aguda, and Karma VP Payments Mor
Grisariu.
Dubbed the start-up nation of the world, Israel gathered the global fintech community for Fintech Week Tel Aviv, held from March 13 to 15. On March 14, UnionDigital Bank (UD) President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Henry Aguda participated in a panel discussion on embedded finance where he shared success stories and use cases on significant advancements made in embedded banking in the Philippines. His presentation focused on the digital bank’s leadership in this domain, emphasizing how it is revolutionizing the financial sector.
Held at the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, Aguda spoke in a panel discussion titled “The Embedded Value: Hear the successful use case stories of embedded finance. How can other sectors benefit from embedded solutions?”
The panel was moderated by UNIPaaS Vice President for Business Development Noa Gastfreund. Aguda was joined by other distinguished panelists, including Worx Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Keren Aviasad, Guestry Payments Business Lead Alisa Applebaum, and Karma Vice President for Payments Mor Grisariu. The panelists shared their learning experiences on successfully implementing embedded finance solutions in their various industries. They provided insight into how other sectors and businesses could benefit from these innovative solutions and how to best adopt them.
During the panel discussion, Aguda highlighted the importance of embedded finance in providing personalized services, faster transactions, and enhanced functionality for the user. Embedded finance involves integrating financial services at the source of the transaction without additional interactions with a traditional financial institution.
In the context of healthcare, Aguda noted that embedded financial services enable healthcare providers to offer holistic health and financial wellness experiences to patients as banking services are integrated into the customer journey of the provider. It was then that Aguda announced the partnership between UnionDigital Bank and mWell, the Philippines’ first, fully integrated, and fully-digital health and wellness platform. The partnership aims to implement embedded financial services for the 1.5 million customers and 5,000 doctors and health professionals using the mWell platform. Integrated into the mWell app, users will be able to access digital banking products, such as medical emergency loans and flexible payment terms, resulting in more accessible and affordable healthcare.
Fintech Week Tel Aviv 2023 brought together over 1,200 attendees from over 40 countries, including investors, decision-makers, and entrepreneurs, to explore the latest trends and strategies defining the industry, including embedded finance.
As the Aboitiz Group undergoes its Great Transformation to become the Philippines’ first Techglomerate, it is driven by technology and the renewed entrepreneurial mindset of Aboitiz team members and leaders such as Aguda.
As the former Chief Technology and Transformation Officer of UnionBank, Aguda played an influential role in leading its digital transformation. Now, as UnionDigital Bank leverages and leads in fintech strategies and embedded financial services, they are able to extend UnionBank’s legacy of innovation to make financial services available and accessible to underserved Filipinos.