Why Global Dominion trusts UnionBank with their payroll solutions

For medium to large companies, ensuring the workforce gets paid on time and efficiently can be a herculean task all on its own. This is especially true of companies in the finance sector where payroll management is expected to be just as efficient as managing the finances of their clients.

To ease these worries, UnionBank offers an array of innovative services designed to cater to evolving needs of partner companies. One of which is an online, streamlined payroll solution that allows clients to manage payroll and payments more easily.

Global Dominion is one such company that employs this. They offer secured loans to small businesses and individuals. It caters to those that have a difficult time getting bank approval by allowing their clients to put up their vehicles’ official receipts and certificates of registration for collateral. It operates nationally, from Region 1 to 12, with almost 1,000 employees and five subsidiaries under it as of this writing. With so much finances besides their own to manage, it’s no surprise they turned to UnionBank.

“We used to be very manual,” shares Godofred ‘Don’ O. Matias, Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) of Global Dominion. “We would have to encode employees’ time in and time out to create a Daily Time Record. This effort was cut by 60-70% by Unionbank’s service.”

Guided by PURE service

With years of experience in the finance sector, Don already knew what he needed from a payroll service provider.

“When browsing which banks to partner with for payroll, I was looking for something ‘PURE’: Progressive; Usable to all levels, ranks, and intelligence; allows Real-time access; and offers Ease-of-use,” he shares.

Progressive

“When I say progressive, it’s a fact that financial institutions need systems that are more advanced and proactive. It needs to be up to date,” he elaborates. “You have to evolve as a company and you have to make sure you have partners that are advanced.”

UnionBank’s payroll service is fully-digital and online. It makes management easy through the UnionBank’s The Portal where HR departments can access the company’s accounts, as well as manage their list of employees. Another key element is the UnionBank Online which works with any computer or smartphone and allows both managers and employees to access their accounts anywhere, anytime. There’s no more need to physically go to the bank. 

Usable to all levels

“What really stood out with UnionBank’s service is transacting through the apps and addressing the needs. The way UB was created, it was created for beginner, intermediate, and advanced users,” enthuses Matias.

With UnionBank, company personnel need only upload that data once. When approving payroll accounts, all the information submitted by employees is electronically sent to UnionBank once approved. 

“When we enroll a new employee for payroll, everything is through the system. All we do is encode the name, basic info. We have four stages of approval for payroll. Once encoded, this info goes to management, finance, HR and the bank. It went from one week approval to just two hours max.”

UnionBank’s Corporate Portal also allows for Application Program Interface (API) access with other programs. This means it will work seamlessly with popular HR and management software (HRMS) like SAP HR, Workday, Oracle’s PeopleSoft, and many other productivity suites.

“It’s very compatible. Once you have that compatibility, your system can run by itself.”

Real-time access

Staying on top of all of the company’s finances can seem daunting. Yet besides managing payroll, the Portal also incorporates a multitude of peripheral services. These include collection, disbursement, electronic fund transfer (EFT), and supply chain financing. The Portal is designed to provide all the necessary information with just a few clicks. For even more savvy users, there are automation functions that can help improve efficiency.

“When payday comes, our people expect their salary to be in their accounts before lunch. Salary is one thing you should never, ever delay. It can be frustrating to employees,” shares Matias. “Now, UnionBank has an app for the phone. Everyone uses their phone. Approval can be done through the phone. Our employees are happier to receive their salaries sooner,” he added.

Besides the usual payroll, Global Dominion also offers incentives and financial assistance to select employees. For this special request, Unionbank was also able to offer a solution.

“All we have to do is contact UnionBank and tell them to deliver the financial assistance to the employees’ accounts.”

Ease of use

Besides catering to his company needs, Matias is pleasantly surprised with how UnionBank also answers his personal banking needs.

“You can transact and pay bills on the same day. There’s a feature where you have a target savings amount and it automatically debits and puts it into savings. They have check transfer, where you take a picture of the check and it will be transferred. The transfer limit for most banks is PhP 50,000. With Unionbank, the moment you open, the limit is PhP 100,000 and it can be adjusted. These have been useful for our other departments.”

Customizable to each company’s needs

UnionBank’s Payroll solution is not a rigid set of services but one that can be tailored to each institution’s needs. Unlike other banks however, UnionBank’s offering is flexible and dynamic, both in terms of capability and budget. 

“When we talked to UnionBank, it was all about them listening to what we need first and what our current difficulties are. That’s when they presented something apart from the typical introduction. From that moment, we really felt Unionbank really listened to us, their client, rather than pushing us to partner with them,” Matias shared.

Even with the solutions offered, Matias still kept an eye on the costs these services entailed.

“You always calculate return of investment. With UnionBank, it has been very convenient. This partnership’s benefits have echoed to all other departments.”

Since partnering with UnionBank, Global Dominion has now raised its level of expectations with its bank partners.

“You’re expecting a certain standard. When we browse for another bank to partner with, we now ask them if they can do it the way UnionBank does.”