Uno Digital Bank takes detour to digitalize the Philippines’ sari-sari stores

Uno Digital Bank in the Philippines is venturing where few – if any – digital banks have gone before: digitalizing the country’s over 1.3 million sari-sari stores.

This comes in the wake of a US$32.1 million pre-series B fundraise in February, bringing the total amount raised by the digital bank to US$75 million.

Uno Digital Bank is one of six digital banks in the Philippines, alongside Maya, Tonik, and Gokongwei Group-backed GoTyme Bank. Over a million customers have opened bank accounts with Uno since its launch in July 2022.

Across Southeast Asia, many firms have sought to help mom and pop shops digitalize their operations by using software and point-of-sale systems. / Photo credit: Packworks

Uno is piloting an app for merchants to manage store functions like payroll, accounting, inventory, and procurement, co-founder and board chairman Kalidas Ghose told Tech in Asia in an interview ahead of the launch in the third quarter of this year.

Called UnoBiz, the platform allows merchants to accept various payment methods including digital bank apps and e-wallets. Merchants can obtain credit, which the bank will underwrite based on a store’s operations and cash flow data. Brands can also run targeted promotions to retailers and customers based on buying habits, Ghose shares.

Many digital banks offer business accounts and related financial services. Indonesia-based Jago, for instance, offers business bank accounts for merchants. In Singapore, those using a Mari Business account can pay suppliers and staff via fund transfers with zero fees, and obtain loans.

Yet most digital banks stop short of entering adjacent merchant services like supply chain solutions.

Ghose, however, believes this is precisely what will give Uno an edge. “There are segment competitors like MayaBank and GrowSari,” he says. “But on the whole, across all our services, you won’t find anybody [competing with us].”

Done well, UnoBiz could expand the bank’s customer and merchant pool, draw in new revenue streams, and strengthen its credit and risk models through data. These in turn could push Uno towards its year-end profitability goal.

But the failure of many B2B ecommerce players across Southeast Asia has shown that doing so is no easy feat.

See also: Rural areas hold key to reviving Indonesia’s struggling warung startups

Targeting sari-sari stores

Sari-sari stores, the “lifeblood” of Filipino rural and urban communities, are where 94% of Filipinos purchase daily household necessities, make bill payments, and mobile data top-ups. In 2023, these mom and pop shops facilitated 8.2 million transactions.

Across Southeast Asia, firms such as Growsari and Packworks in the Philippines as well as Super and Mitra Bukalapak in Indonesia are helping mom and pop shops digitalize their operations by using software and point-of-sale systems.

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