Leading Ladies
Tobi Tobias
Customer Experience Group and The Ark
Tobi weighs in on being a mother – in and out of the Bank.
Kindly state your name, your designation, and the teams you are with?
My name is Maria Theresa Carolyn Luna Tobias, but you can call me Tobi for short. And I’m with Customer Experience Group under Ana Delgado.
Please walk us through your career journey with UnionBank.
I’ve been with the Bank for 32 years. I started with Interbank in 1987 as a Clerk Typist. Then I moved up to be a secretary, executive assistant to the Mancom for under Gia Lim, Genju Lapez, and then to Ana Delgado.
How different is your current role from your previous role?
Very different. Because like I said, I was an Executive Secretary, so it’s more enclosed. I’m just in my workstation, but now with the Customer Experience and with The Ark, I’m doing events, I move around, I’ve been to the other branches to promote The Ark.
In a nutshell, what do you do with the CX group?
Aside from assisting Ana Delgado, I handle events at The Ark. We offer The Ark as a third space where they can hold events. We help the clients do that in our Ark spaces. We have 15 branches for that.
How did you respond to the digital transformation of the Bank?
Initially, I was scared because, at my age, I didn’t know how to respond. I don’t know if I can cope up with it, but my team helped me with the process. The journey became easy for me.
What do you consider as the best part of your job?
The best part? It’s the travel opportunities. I’ve been to Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao, and I’ve met all the people in our branches. Some of them I haven’t seen for a long time. That’s very exciting for me because you know before, I’ve never traveled to other places in my previous job.
What do you like most about UnionBank?
It’s very innovative, very bold, and not afraid to go the distance in the digital transformation.
What do you think would set UnionBank apart from other companies?
What sets UnionBank apart is the camaraderie. The sense of belongingness. If you’re like me, in our team, the closeness that we have, that’s a big part in making me feel important.
What made you stay in UnionBank for 32 years?
I will be a hypocrite if I don’t say that it’s for the money. Hahaha. Apart from that, I also enjoy working with a team that appreciates the little things that I do. That’s a big reason why I stayed here. Sometimes the little ‘Thank yous’ become a big thing. You know that they appreciate you when they say, “Thank you, Tobi, napadali mo ang trabaho ko.” And I was like, “Huh, I just did that! That’s a small thing.”
Outside work, who is Tobi?
Tobi is a woman who tries her best to raise her family and whose hobby is doing laundry while drinking beer. I love to drink and also binge watch Netflix series, and movies.
How does it feel to be a career woman and a mother?
Being a career woman and a mother at the same time is daunting. It’s quite daunting and overwhelming. Because you know it’s challenging to balance, nothing is perfect. It’s either you sacrifice work or sacrifice your family at some point. I’ve been traveling a lot since last month. During weekends, I was always out of town because we have this deadline to finish, but I guess since my children are already grown up, so it’s somewhat easier for me.
Are you able to extend that motherly affection to your team?
Of course! Because I’m their go-to woman. You know, whenever they have something, they need something, it’s me they look for. Because of my 32 years at the Bank, they know I’d know what to do. “How do you do this, Ms. Tobi?” “Where do I find this?” Some employees even call me ‘Mama.’
What do you think is your greatest accomplishment? Whether it’s about work or family.
Personal? It’s raising my kids to be God-fearing. That’s one of the main reasons they didn’t do drugs or got pregnant at an early age and for them to finish college.
My greatest accomplishment is to be here, interviewed for the very first time. In 32 years, I think no one has done that. And at my age, that’s a significant accomplishment. And it validates my contribution here at UnionBank.
Erika Dizon
Sales and Business Development Head, FinTech Business Group
Erika on breaking glass ceilings at what was pre-conceived as a male-dominated industry – FinTech.
Kindly state your name, your designation, and the teams you are leading.
I’m Erika Dizon, and I’m heading the Sales and Business Development Team for the FinTech Business Group.
How long have you been with the group?
I’ve been with UnionBank for about three years. I started around September.
Can you walk us through your career journey before and here at the Bank.
I started my career out of college directly in Finance. It was more hardcore. I was doing Investment Banking and Debt Capital markets out of Hong Kong for a French investment firm. I went back to the Philippines when I got an offer at Citibank Manila, where I did FX in Derivative Structuring and Trading. Five years felt like it was ten years, but it was excellent training. I learned a lot there, I’ve met great people along the way, and super good mentors. I think that is super important for anyone, whether you’re in a professional setting or if you’re in business, mentors are one thing I’d always advise on.
I was in Citibank for around 5 to 6 years. After Citibank, Bloomberg Philippines started setting up shop here, which was led by the MVP group by way of Cignal in TV5. They asked me to do financial news and headlines for Bloomberg Philippines. I was doing early news for six days a week. It’s very different from banking per se, but still very much involved with Finance.
I’m now leading the Sales and Business Development Team for the FinTech Business Group; I think what we’re trying to do here is change the mindset and the way we do things as UnionBank even if it’s already a progressive bank.
What do you do for the Bank?
My role in the Bank is a three-pronged approach. Our main job function is to bank Fintechs and be the leading Bank of choice. The idea being is that there are more and more Fintechs, not just in the Philippines, but globally. If you realize a lot of the major companies nowadays are Fintechs. There’s Google, Amazon, Facebook, and they have the highest capitalization now in the United States, and we see that as a trend also here in the Philippines.
Aside from banking them, our main goal is to enable them with traditional banking products that UnionBank has. Thirdly, we want to skew partnerships with these FinTechs. What we do is that if there’s a specific function that they have or service, which the Bank does not have, but it has certain synergies, then that’s something that we worked on together. Eventually, when we see that, it’s a very good synergy with the Bank, we invest in that FinTech, and then we reintegrate their products into our own existing services.
How does it feel to be a woman in Finance and FinTech?
It’s not easy. There are a lot of glass ceilings you have to break – pre-conceived notions. The industry – banking and tech – is predominated by men.
I think you have to weave through that and find your position in the world. And you just have to have strength in yourself, in what you’re doing in what you represent, and I hope that other women feel the same way. And I think Union Bank is progressive enough that they support women in the roles for them to move forward to achieve to do better and to do more with their lives.
How is UnionBank, setting up a platform for women like you to excel in the financial world?
In terms of platform, I think the Bank has been very supportive. You know, giving you training, giving you additional educational things that you could do you could become a scrum master, you can be a data analytics person, all of those things I don’t think other banks are giving out. If there’s also something an additional education item, which you think will help with your previous role making become more effective, the Bank is there, and it has a platform for you to do so. It also puts you in certain situations and events that allow you to grow – growth in terms of seeing what’s out there in the world, by way of the Singapore FinTech Festival.
What do you like most about Union Bank?
One of the main reasons I decided to join Union Bank was because out of all the local banks here in the Philippines; I felt that it was very progressive, and that resonated with me. I wanted to be part of an organization that thinks about not only the present but about the future. Where is everything headed? What is the next step for banking? And I think it’s Union Bank. That is the best position – to be able to be there and become relevant in the next 10 to 20 years, and that’s a big part I think of deciding what part of the company you want to work for also at the same time, you learn a lot. It’s not just about traditional banking anymore. It’s not just about tech, right? One of the few things that I think was a nice touch was nobody gets left behind.
It’s not just about the people on top, it’s everyone. It’s changing everyone’s mindset and making sure everyone is on board with what we’re doing. It’s making sure that everyone is aligned with the main goal and I think it takes a village and I think we’re getting there.
Who is Erika outside work?
I am a certified Pilates instructor. I did the training – 100 hours of backflipping, stretching, so I’m very flexible. Not just in the work environment. I’ve also started a design and construction firm on the side.
What we do is that we employ workers who have not finished college, workers who are a bit over retirement age, those who are having a hard time finding jobs because they just don’t fit the criteria. I think that’s my way of helping the nation, giving them jobs doing something on the side that I’m also building. That’s what I try to do, and I’m very conscious of that. It’s a big deal for me also that they have projects because these guys rely on those projects to be able to eat, to feed their families, to have a livelihood. It’s a particular calling.
What was your childhood ambition, and is that close to what you’re doing now?
It’s funny because I just saw my yearbook very recently. I tried to dig up old things and throw them out, and I looked at my page and what it said there was, I wanted to become a newscaster or first lady.
Okay na ako sa newscaster, that’s good, I’m done. I’ve tried it. I could rest someday knowing that you know it’s something that I was able to experience in my lifetime. Siguro I will work on being the first lady. Haha.
Of a company? Or of the Philippines?
First lady of the Philippines, yun talaga ang pangarap ko.
What would be your advice to women who would want to venture into Finance?
I think women just have to use what they’ve got. It may be a man’s world, but you also get very far with a woman’s touch. It could be a different talent. It could be your charm. Whatever it is, you could bring your own, and I think girls and women, in general, have to realize that they have strengths that the opposite sex does not, so they should use that to their advantage.
And also I think women have to have faith in themselves, maybe a lot of people believe that “This is only how far I can get,” but you always have to begin with the end in mind. And that’s what I always tell myself, you always have to envision what you want for yourself, where you want to be. Begin with the end in mind, and it will be easier, to I guess, take the necessary steps to get where you want to be.
Tracy Lim
Cards Marketing and Portfolio Management Head
Stacy on conquering the global stage as she talks about our digital transformation and the Bank’s higher purpose.
Please state your name, your designation, and the unit you are handling.
I am Tracy Lim, I head Cards Portfolio Management and also Cards Marketing.
Please share with us a brief background about your career journey?
It was my 4th anniversary last December, so I’m four years now in UnionBank. My journey in UnionBank is exciting and very dynamic because from being like an assembly line, we now are very robust marketers. Before, a Partner Promotions Manager is focused on creating campaigns and brief an agency to create programs. Now, they’re also content developers – they create campaigns and their content, and they do the blast themselves.
You’ve been with the Bank for four years. Incidentally, we started our digital transformation four years ago, so how did you find the journey?
In all honesty for our team, we welcomed it with excitement. I guess because it was explained to us in a very transparent way, and I think that’s the key to any transformation. Transparency and trust that we’ll be able to deliver what was told us to do. We didn’t have a hard time because there was support from our leaders during that time.
What do you love most about your job?
I love my job! I love being a marketer. Primarily because I feel like it’s a blessing to be one, it’s rare to have direct access to a platform that can directly communicate and, at the same time, listen to people, both internal and external. Having this access enables you to empathize and create a product that can help those people. It helps you to be an influence of change, how awesome is that right?
What do you like about UnionBank?
What I like most about UnionBank is that we have a higher purpose, and it’s not just about us. It’s our organization, having a purpose-driven goal or mission to create better communities. And when we create better communities, it means that we are creating a better country for the next generation.
What I also love about UnionBank is the people. Our culture of compassion and stewardship, I think that’s important as well. It’s creating a better community.
How did UnionBank introduce you to the global stage? Tell us more about your Salesforce journey.
When we started our transformation, they told me “This is our goal, this is what we want to do, what do you need?” Of course, for us to be able to deliver, we need a platform of change, and the answer was Salesforce, which is an enabler for us to provide 360-degree communication to our cardholders and also having a personalized customer experience. That brought me also to be introduced to other Philippine communities that were experiencing such. And that made me share our Salesforce experience, or should I say, our digital transformation – our experience and how we were able to achieve that success. My experience in the global stage was a groundbreaking, heartwarming experience because you no longer just represent UnionBank, you’re representing your country, the Philippines. To be able to share with young leaders all over the world how to lead and how to deliver an excellent customer experience, how cool is that?
So how does it feel to be a woman in Tech?
I didn’t even consider myself as a woman in Tech. You know, because I’m a marketer. But when we made the transformation journey, it can’t be right that I just tell somebody else to do it. I also need to know how to do it and be a robust kind of marketer. So, given a platform such as Salesforce, it made me be a woman in Tech. At first, I don’t even know how to code. I don’t even know Python, and I don’t even know SAS or any other programming language. But because of our digital transformation, it made me learn and made me study again. That’s one of the strengths of being a woman in Tech. It’s having that maternal instinct in you and applying that when you develop something. So yeah, that’s the cool experience for me in being a woman in Tech.
Who is Tracy outside UnionBank?
Outside UnionBank, I’m a mom, I’m a wife, and also a mom to our future leaders. I’m a member of the Philippine Community Leaders as well, and I was introduced to that because of UnionBank. And that’s my other role, to be a mom to our future leaders. So yeah, that’s me outside UnionBank.
How do you manage your time? As a wife, as a mother, and as a young leader in the country?
When things get busy, I just go back to the question of, “what is my priority?” Or if that day is kind of chaos, I just ask myself and then go back again to myself and then tell myself, “Okay. So what’s my priority for today?” or “What are my priorities for today” and that gets me back on track and keeps me away from that notion that I am busy.
What do you think is your greatest accomplishment – both personal and professional?
It’s really about me being a mom, and that’s the greatest accomplishment for me not just to my son, but also to the next leaders of the Bank. To influence them and to be their source of strength is an achievement for me. I think being a mom makes you a better marketer because it makes you think more relatable content, right? It makes you empathize with the customer, and empathizing builds relationships.
And I think we are no longer transactional. When we market something, it’s not about selling a product anymore; it’s building a relationship with our customers. And being a mother helps me realize such. Because when you are a mom, you build a relationship with your son, you create a community on your own, in your household.
If you are to give a piece of advice to your fellow UnionBankers on how they can fully own their future, what would that be?
Oh, just three things. One is trust, trust the organization, and then trust yourself. Second is give back unselfishly. Lastly, it’s love. In everything that we do, there should always be love, so because it emanates. That’s it for me.
Cris Tismo
Lean Systems Engineering Head, ITSG
Cris talks about her role in building the framework of the Bank’s digital transformation – our API Management Platform.
Please state your name, your designation, and the units you are leading.
I’m Maria Cristina Tismo, but I think the whole Bank knows me as Cris Tismo. I am with the Development Team. My team handles UnionBank Online, The Portal.
My team also handles the API management of the Bank, all the websites client-facing, the bots, the chatbot, and then EVE. Salesforce is also under my team.
Kindly tell us when you started with the Bank and share a brief background about your journey.
I graduated, May 2001, and I was in the Bank, June 1. I went straight out of college and then to the Bank. I didn’t know I wanted to be a programmer. I was a Math major because I wanted to be in Actuarial. But when I was interviewed, and I was told I was going to learn and be a programmer, then I just took the offer. I think in my first week, they asked me to code. I didn’t know how to. I asked my friend to help me with it, so that’s my first real programming. It was with the help of a friend and some books. Hindi pa masyado uso yung Google nung time na yun. That was 18 years ago, June 1, 2001, going 19 this year.
In a nutshell, how would you describe your work in the Bank?
I’d like to think that it’s us, building things. I love building new things, and that’s what programming is. It’s building things so that other people can use it, so it’s always new because you always have to keep up with the times. Since it’s client-facing, you have to know what they want and what the business wants. It has to be secure, as well. It just can’t be pretty, it has to be working, and it has to be safe.
Tell us more about the development of the UnionBank app.
I think this is one of the best stories of Agile in the Bank, not being afraid of people. We were already in the middle of development, testing, and then we were not happy. The bosses were not pleased. And then one day, we were told we were not going through with our partner, and we’re going to start from scratch. It was Gerb, me, and one of the project managers at HRA’s Office who were told. So, we will do it our way; we’ll do it the agile way.
That was on a Friday, we talked to our partners, Saturday. We started from scratch, Monday, with around four or five developers and then us. I think after six months, we were able to go live. That was two years ago. Then I think it was the first bank project that we practiced the agile ways of doing things.
How does it feel to be part of the team which developed what we now call as the best mobile banking app?
It’s always fun to be part of it. It’s more fun when you hear compliments, and they didn’t know that you were part of the team. May nakikita ka lang sa social media tapos makikita mo na they love it. For the most part, we were the banking industry’s best-kept secret, but not anymore. So it’s always fun pag nakikita mo, kasi hindi biased eh. So they’ll say, “Oh! We love your app!” Tapos may mga nag-open ng app. I even have some friends that I don’t usually tell them kung ano ginagawa ko in the Bank. So, when I hear compliments, “Your app is so good!” It always feels like worth it lahat ng mga ginagawa ko.
Let’s talk about API. Can you tell us more about it as the backbone of the Bank’s digital transformation?
In 2016, when we were told, we have to start building APIs and an API management system. Before that, we knew what APIs were. But we didn’t know that we had to do it at an enterprise level so that it can scale, and it can help us bring the Bank to where it wants to be. At that point, we were just really, “Okay, make use of this, and then just do it right, and then it will follow.”
We did it, both our APIs and API management. Then we just got help to architecture everything. A year later, we found that we’re gaining the traction that we wanted. Now, after more than three years, we’re getting around 70 million API calls a month. And that I think that’s a lot. Then my last report says for last year alone; it’s like three trillion pesos in transaction volume coming from the APIs.
How does it feel to be working in what is pre-conceived as a male-dominated environment?
I never thought about it that way. Even before this interview, it never dawned to me that this was a male job, and then now we’re looking at it, there are more males than females. But it has never made to feel that I was working in a male-dominated industry. I think the best way to describe it is that I never felt that it was about gender, or it was about having more males than females. It was never an issue.
What made you stay with the Bank for the past 18 years?
Because it never felt like it was 18 years. It has always been fun. As I’ve said, it can be tiring, but it’s never dull, it’s never boring. It’s challenging, so you always get up in the morning thinking what’s ahead. And then you always end the day knowing, you did a little better, and you did a little more than when you started. It always feels better. Because laging may increment of small wins, there are always small wins, and it helps, and it gives you that little energy for the next day. And then you’ve made friends. It’s easy to work with people in the Bank.
How do you think UnionBank helped you shaped or owned your future?
Everything I know, I know because I started here because this Bank helped me. Of course, I actively studied on my own, but because this Bank allowed me that. They allowed the growth, and they never stopped me when I felt I needed more. When I think I can do more, they give me more. When they think that maybe, for now, I need to back off and just, okay not now, they also give me that. It’s a good give and take, and I’d like to think that because of what they taught me, giving back to the Bank, and I’ve given my talent and skills back to them to be able to help them out.
Who is Cris outside work?
I have a very close set of friends. I’ve been friends with some people since high school and elementary. I love going out with friends, traveling. I used to want nightlife. Now, not anymore. But I love traveling. My goal is to be able to go somewhere new every year, be it international or local. The beach, I love going to the beach. I haven’t done it this year but in two weeks. So that’s something I always look forward to, traveling, long drives.
What do you think do you consider is your greatest personal accomplishment?
I just finished the house I was building for myself and my family in Batangas.
How about your most significant accomplishment in the Bank?
It’s the API management because it served as the foundation which the Bank uses and leverage for its digital transformation. Everything that we wanted to accomplish, we were able to do so because the Bank, Sir Henry, Sir DDO, said we have to start with the basics, with the foundation, and one of those is the API management. We have the Ark, and we have UnionBank Online, we have The Portal because we were able to leverage the APIs that we’ve made using the API management platform that we’ve built.
What do you like most about UnionBank?
It’s the culture. It’s the people, the go-getters, who are nice and kind people. They are passionate without being mean and spiteful. It’s having those arguments and still knowing that it was because they just want things done. It’s getting out of the room with more knowledge than when you came in. And you’re allowed to say your ideas without thinking that people will be using it against me.
What would be your advice to your fellow UnionBankers on how they can own their future with the Bank?
Say yes. I think it’s important that when new challenges are presented to you, and new opportunities are given to you, you say yes. Don’t be scared to say, “You know what, I can try it.” You don’t even have to say you will succeed; you just say you’ll try it. Because it’s agile, you can pivot in the middle of the project. If it doesn’t work, you just say, “You know what, maybe we can try some other things,” but at least try it. At least be there, and at least try it. Because I think that worked for me. I didn’t know what I was getting into when I started the API management or when I tried programming, but I ended up 18 years in the Bank. I just said yes and then tried it.