Local government units (LGUs) are the face of the government in the smallest units of society. It is important that LGUs are able to service their constituents in the most efficient way possible. UBX, a leading open finance platform in the Philippines, is assisting LGUs level up through UrGovPH, a suite of open finance solutions that enable local governments to digitally transform their services.
According to UBX President John Januszczak, UrGovPH’s spectrum of open finance solutions “empowers government units and agencies to digitally transform their services and bring them closer to their citizens and stakeholders”.
The initiative aligns with the current administration’s efforts to build a digital Philippines, which will infuse technology and innovation to respond to the needs of the public and improve governance. In harnessing the power of new technology, Filipinos will have safe and seamless access to public services.
With the help of UBX, LGUs can actively respond to this call by leveraging UrGovPH’s open finance solutions, such as social services marketplace, financial services, information management, asset management, service management, and identity solutions.
Powered by the various ventures of UBX, LGUs that partner with UBX for their digital transformation journeys are empowered to automate the workflow for the management of all social services, from local civil registry, to enforcement of ordinance, citizen and business registration, to acceptance of digital payments.
Here are some examples.
- i2i, UBX’s banking-as-a-service platform, will allow citizens to transact with their LGUs digitally. Aside from cashless and in-store payment solutions, i2i also allows for carded or non-carded disbursements. It also enables LGUs to automate accounting and taxation.
- Customer relations will improve as all information assets will be available for different channels. Inquiry management and dispute resolution management are covered by the feature. Likewise, real property, environmental, and business assets will be blockchain-enabled to help ease the control of the listings of real property, environment, and businesses under each LGU. Location-enabled mapping of Real Property Assets will also be available.
- Businesses will have easier access to verified and trusted lenders in the Philippines through SeekCap. Entrepreneurs can find and apply for business loans online with UBX’s network of partner lenders, helping small and medium enterprises get the much-needed capital to stay afloat and competitive.
- Citizen verification will be automated for faster and more efficient delivery of various services. ID verification, liveness check, and pre-filled information from the existing government IDs or connected database will be available.
- LGUs will also have access to various government agencies and private partners of UBX, allowing them to introduce new digital services and further improve governance.
- UrGovPH solutions can be hyper-personalized to the specific needs of the LGUs’ citizens.
UrGovPH is meant to support the national government’s drive to promote ease of doing business, as enshrined under Republic Act No. 11032 of 2018. UrGovPH also complements the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) National Financial Inclusion Strategy and the Digital Transformation Roadmap. It also strengthens Executive Order No. 170 of 2022 (also called the Adoption of Digital Payments for Government Disbursements and Collections) as well as the Electronic Commerce Act or RA No. 8792.