The Samsung Finance+ initiative launched by Union Bank of the Philippines (UnionBank) in partnership with Samsung is the bank’s first entry into the point of sale (POS) lending market. The partners developed an instant gadget loan program with a fully digital customer experience. The program allows customers to purchase Samsung gadgets with 0% interest loans, even without a credit card, making technology more accessible to a broader audience, including those new-to-credit.

UnionBank’s innovative solution is appealing to all: end customers, Samsung and its dealers, and the bank. To assess the credit worthiness of new-to-credit customers, the bank had to develop a different approach, leveraging alternative data, its own models, and specialist partner solutions aimed at elevating the loan payments to the top of the customer’s payments hierarchy. By partnering with Infosys Finacle, the bank was able to demonstrate technology readiness and agility, a crucial factor in winning the competitive bid for UnionBank to become the financing partner of the Samsung Finance+ program in the Philippines.

For all those reasons, Union Bank of the Philippines is a deserving winner of Celent’s Model Bank 2025 award for Embedded Finance.

A highlight reel and a downloadable one-page takeaway of UnionBank's award-winning initiative are available to everyone.

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