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UnionBank PH partners with Metaco for crypto custody services

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Southeast Asian financial institution, UnionBank of the Philippines (UB), partnered with Metaco, an enterprise cryptocurrency platform used for securing, trading and managing digital assets. 

According to the bank, they aim to utilise the IBM Cloud for digital asset management services and is the first to offer this service in the Philippines. This will allow UB to offer crypto management and custody services to its clients in the country. 

Henry Aguda, senior executive vice president of the aforementioned bank said that the partnership with Metaco is in pursuit of a common vision of customer-centricity through emerging technologies and innovation. 

‘We have the passion for meaningful and sustainable reinvention, we value our strategic partners, like Metaco, and collaborate with them in an alliance that is meaningful in pursuit of a common vision,’ he said. 

Partnering with Metaco and IBM isn’t the first crypto-related decision that UB has implemented in its 54-year history. In 2019, the Philippine-based bank rolled out its two-way virtual currency ATM which allows its customers to purchase Bitcoin or convert digital assets into fiat money. 

The 54-year old bank also partnered with the Philippine Government to implement blockchain technology to manage treasury bonds. This service was targeted at retail investors around the height of the pandemic in 2020.

With the recent partnership of Metaco with its Harmonise digital asset orchestration system fully integrated into the IBM Cloud, UB is among the traditional financial banks in Southeast Asia that can expand their services involving digital assets.

This also allows UB to improve the insurability of its clients’ digital assets with FIPS 140-2 Level 4 certification controls for managing and migrating keys, which is the highest level security standard used by the US government. 

The Metaco Harmonise system isn’t limited to managing digital asset transactions because it also helps financial institutions such as UB to participate in decentralised finance (DeFi) activities involving tokenisation and smart contract management. 

Metaco deployed its digital asset management system through the IBM Cloud by partnering with the US-based tech conglomerate around March 2021. This provides the company with proper encryption that utilises the ‘Keep Your Own Key’ or KYOK method that allows customers to have sole control over private keys. 

Find out more about blockchain optimisation and recent cryptocurrency updates in Southeast Asia here at BTC Post!

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