Capital A partners with PH's UnionDigital Bank to facilitate greater ease of travel

Capital A is partnering with UnionDigital Bank, the digital bank subsidiary of Union Bank of the Philippines, which involves three key subsidiaries including AirAsia, airasia Superapp, and BigPay, to deliver a seamless and enriched travel booking experience for airasia Superapp’s users, and redefine the way people travel and manage their finances.

These collaborations were unveiled at the APEC business advisory council meeting press conference, attended by industry leaders and policymakers, according to a statement by the company.

As the airline business of Capital A, airasia Superapp is the one-stop travel platform offering services from flights, hotels, ride-hailing, loyalty programs and more. BigPay is its fintech arm which provides accessible and secure digital financial services with the vision of improving financial wellbeing and accessibility in Southeast Asia. 

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UnionDigital Bank’s role, according to a release to the press, will be to provide embedded finance in partnership with BigPay within the airasia Superapp travel platform, which is the main booking channel for AirAsia flights in the Philippines. The aim with this partnership is to give users a seamless travel booking experiance and to help them manage their travel and finances. 

The partnership also aims to enhance the travel experience of frequent fliers with flexible payment options with a ‘Fly Now, Pay Later’ offer available in airasia Superapp, and exclusive co-branding deals. This will then create a progressive shift in the way customers plan and pay for their flights and other travel-related services, making fintech more convenient and accessible for Filipinos. 

Tony Fernandes, CEO of Capital A said that the vision for Capital has been to provide low cost and high value services. “With UnionDigital, we are now on our way to create a future where travel meets innovative financial solutions that facilitate everyone’s dream journeys with unparalleled ease. We look forward to working with UnionDigital to redefine travel coupled with fintech as an accessible and enriching experience,” he added.

He went on to add that seven out of 10 customers in the Philippines are wary of their expenditure regarding travel, and are carefully budgeting to ensure that they can travel comfortably. “It is this inspiring dedication that fuels our determination to break down barriers and create a more connected and inclusive global community,” he explained.

Arelease to the press also stated that UnionDigital Bank’s partnership with the mobile wallet BigPay which provides financial services in Malaysia and Singapore, solidifies its expansion into the Philippine market. Through this partnership, BigPay aims to serve Philippine customers with secure and frictionless financial services that will improve their financial health and management in the long-run. 

“As tourism flourishes in the region, we are excited to elevate the end-to-end travel and payment experience of Filipinos through our collaboration with UnionDigital Bank and airasia. Through this partnership, BigPay is one step closer to making our financial services highly accessible in the Philippines, with the mission of empowering people to level up their lives, one transaction at a time.” said Zubin Rada Krishnan, CEO of BigPay.

These collaborations unveiled at the ABAC press conference aim to recognise the potential impact of these partnerships, reinforcing UnionDigital Bank’s commitment to driving innovation and fostering economic growth alongside these key industry players. 

“This is a pivotal moment for the two important sectors in the Philippines. We are forging a path towards greater convenience, accessibility, and innovation to empower Filipinos to live better lives,” said Henry Aguda, president and CEO of UnionDigital Bank. “As we make these partnership announcements at ABAC, we are not just setting the stage but building a solid foundation for a brighter future with BigPay and AirAsia by our side,” he added.

Earlier this year, Capital A announced the potential creation of more jobs for Filipinos as part of AirAsia Philippines’ short and long- term plans.

As part of its post-pandemic recovery plans, AirAsia planned some major changes across its Philippine operations. In addition to a stronger emphasis on facilitating local e-commerce and establishing engineering operations in the Philippines, the airline also intends to expand its Philippine fleet to sustain route expansion both domestically and internationally.

“I am excited to put in more investments in the Philippines. We have a great logistics business coming- Teleport Philippines, which we think will be great for e-commerce providers in the Philippines to sell their goods all over. We would also like to bring in ADE, which is a really fantastic engineering company” Fernandes said at the time of the announcement. 

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