From Rookie to Recognized: Arvin
By: Neil Nepomuceno
UnionBank’s Top 5 Relationship Manager and Maximus Award winner 2023, Arvin, knows that there are no shortcuts to real success. We take a look at his inspiring Career Story here at UnionBank.
From Rookie to Recognition
Hired in 2018, Arvin joined the Bank’s premiere Manila Region as a Relationship Manager. From there, he learned about UnionBank’s bleeding-edge online banking products and services.
“A few years after I got into UnionBank, I was really surprised at how digital we (Unionbank) are. So naco-compare din talaga yung difference from a traditional bank, and a digital Bank.” Said Arvin.
He was assigned to UnionBank’s Double Dragon Branch during its opening in December 2019. Arvin was also one of the thousands of UnionBankers who didn’t fear the sudden shift to remote work, as he explains “From the beginning na kaka-open pa lang kasi ng branch namin noong December 2019 tapos biglang hindi na namin siya pwedeng puntahan.”
“Nag work-from-home, na lockdown na, at sinarado for a time.
“But okay naman, the branch is doing well. Especially during this pandemic kasi UnionBank was ready doon sa nangyari na everybody’s working from home, lockdown, paano mangyayari sa mga businesses? Paano mangyayari sa mga kailangan mag-bangko.” He ended.
With the help of UnionBank’s digital tools and services for all RMs, Arvin seamlessly adapted to this new way of working. His career started to grow being named “Rookie RM of the Year” in 2020 and being one of the top three in Corporate Digital Account Opening (CDAO) for 2020-2021 due to his excellent work despite the extreme lockdown measures.
Victory over his doubts and challenges
Filipinos are known to be resilient. But even the toughest individuals were caught by surprise by the amount of negativity that was brought upon by the pandemic.
“I was even struggling just to get a hundred-thousand-peso account and even more so on a one-million-peso account.” Said Arvin.
“So noong una, akala ko impossible. When I see the top RMs, I ask myself, paano nila nagagawa yun? There are hundreds of millions of CASA in one year.”
“I just thought to myself: one day, aakyat rin ako diyan. After a few years of consistent work, here I am for the first time as a Relationship Manager.” He ended.
Aside from Arvin’s burning desire to serve his clients and drive to be successful, UnionBank didn’t by allowing a hybrid and flexible work setup. The same goes for Arvin, as he recalled,
“UnionBank was ready doon sa nangyari na everybody’s working from home. Of course, I used The Portal, Cash management, and fortunately, (CDAO) and the Retail Digital Account Opening (RDAO) were launched before the pandemic, making it easier for Relationship Managers to do their work at home during lockdown.”
“It’s one of the things that blossomed my performance in UnionBank kasi I took advantage of our digital services.” He ended.
A Consistent Top Performer
UnionBank promotes a culture of excellence, encouraging employees like Arvin to exceed their job requirements through the value of Magis. As a Relationship Manager, Arvin consistently excelled, earning recognition as one of the Top 7 Relationship Managers in the Bank’s annual Heroes and Champions event in 2022 for his excellent 2021 production. Arvin has since been awarded the prestigious Maximus award for being one of the Top 5 Relationship Managers in 2023.
“I’m really blessed. Very helpful kasi si UnionBank not just yung digital services for the clients but yung tools that Relationship Managers can use.” Said Arvin.
“To be up the stage together with ERB, the board, and all the other RMs and SDs, it looks like a once–in–a–lifetime type of thing, although I am trying that it won’t be my last Maximus Award!” He added.
The Best Part of his Job
When asked about the best part about his job, Arvin quickly expressed his desire to let people and business owners know that UnionBank is the best digital bank in the Philippines.
Arvin explained, “Pwedeng gumagamit sila ng other banks dahil nasanay lang sila doon, pero baka medyo hassle na.”
“So I just tell them, just try it out. Start with a 5000 peso corporate account and experience our online banking.”
“After that, the next thing you know, they share it to their network, their friends, their other colleagues until kusang pumasok yung mga accounts kasi these people who have experienced great banking with great relationship managers, na-experience nila yun and they are happy to share it with others.” said Arvin.
He ended his sharing by saying,
“Aside from having the best products, in UnionBank, I’m home. I love the people and the teams around me.”
A committed mentor of the next generation of high-performing UnionBankers
Arvin, now on his 5th year at UnionBank, shared that he will continue to mentor both current and new faces in his team.
“It’s the best team I ever had since I started working. That’s team Manila because we’re like a family. Everyone’s helping each other, supporting each other, yung mentoring ng mga seniors to the newbies.”
“And we’re all growing. Sabay-sabay kami nago-grow kaya nakakatuwa kapag every one of us are increasing our CASA, increasing our production.” Said Arvin.
As a Relationship Manager, we are given quotas on a yearly basis for loans, deposits and all the other products.
“I would like to advice that you have to think higher; you have to think at a higher level, don’t just meet the quota, you have to surpass it.
“Dapat ang goal mo, is a lot more than what is given to you because if you meet a certain goal then you’re an ordinary RM, you’ve done your job and that’s good.”
“But when you surpass them, it becomes a different level.” He ended.
According to Arvin, there are no shortcuts towards your goals. He highlighted the importance of not cheating, and the value of hard work.
“Working with UnionBank, it’s not hard to wake up in the morning to get up and work. Kasi you’re not just selling, you are helping people at the same time, you feel good about yourself kasi alam mo na may nagagawa ‘kang maganda for these clients.”