Union Bank of the Philippines (UnionBank) once again has been recently certified to the Payment Card Industry-Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS). This marks the fifth consecutive year that the Bank was able to earn the said certification. UnionBank also remains to be the only local commercial bank that is PCI-DSS compliant, giving it an advantage over other debit and credit card providers in terms of security.

Card fraud remains as one of the biggest threats affecting the global card industry. According to the latest figures from the annual Nielsen Report, card fraud is seen to cost the industry more than $400 billion in losses globally over the next decade. This has also become a major concern for Filipinos especially with the growth of digital payments during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. In August, the Credit Card Association of the Philippines (CCAP) reported that credit card fraud done through digital payment channels rose by 21 percent since the start of the health crisis.

“With these numbers in mind, there is a need for better security measures to address these growing threats. Our PCI-DSS certification assures our customers and clients that we have the capability to continuously protect their card data,” said UnionBank’s Chief Information Security Officer Joey Rufo. “This is clearly important in a digital environment that is constantly being threatened by malicious actors, whose attacks are increasingly becoming more sophisticated.”

PCI-DSS is an international information security gold standard adhered to by organizations in card holders’ data. “Being certified to this standard proves that UnionBank does not only give our customers the best experience, but also the best protection and security,” Rufo said.