A featured contribution from Leadership Perspectives: a curated forum reserved for leaders nominated by our subscribers and vetted by the Construction Tech Review Advisory Board.
Senior Vice President - Branch Channel Management Head Of Union Bank Of The Philippines
The Blueprint behind Modernizing Branch Networks
Ronaldo S. Batisan
Ronaldo S. Batisan is the Senior Vice President and Branch Channel Management Head at Union Bank of the Philippines. He joined the bank in 2011 and in 2017 was given a break as a Project Manager and rapidly rose, becoming SVP by 2022. A key driver behind UnionBank’s branch transformation, Batisan led the launch of The ARK, the country’s first fully digital bank branch, earning regional and global acclaim. In 2019, he received the Mansmith Young Market Masters Award for Customer Experience. Following UnionBank’s acquisition of Citibank, he played a central role in integrating Citibank branches and digitizing key government IDs. He now leads a network of 195 branches and over 1,100 team members focused on delivering a unified customer experience.
In an interview with APAC CIO Outlook, Batisan reflects on his journey in transforming UnionBank’s branch network and discusses the challenges he faced in driving the bank’s digitalization efforts. He highlights his commitment to transparency in his relationship with employees, an approach that has shaped him into a strong leader.
Reimagining the Role of the Branch: Leading with Purpose in a Digital Age
When I reflect on how far we’ve come, I no longer see branches as just service points. They’ve become growth engines. By 2025, nearly every branch team was cross-selling the bank’s full range of products—from credit cards and personal loans to home and auto financing, bancassurance and beyond. There were times we even outperformed our dedicated sales teams.
Much of that shift came from rethinking how customers interact with us. We invested heavily in onboarding users into UB Online, helping open nearly three million new accounts. In-branch, we rolled out the iPadbased Digital Transaction Portal or what we call DTP and promoted selfservice machines like ATMs and Cash Deposit Machines. These tools helped reduce waiting times and streamlined operations—but they weren’t always met with enthusiasm.
When we launched DTP, some customers felt overwhelmed by the change. A few even considered closing their accounts. That moment taught me something vital: transformation doesn’t succeed through innovation alone. It requires trust. For seven or eight years, we hand-held, explained and stayed patient.
That simple shift in framing changed the conversation. It reminded us that transformation is not about technology for its own sake. It’s about creating systems that serve people better.
Beyond Digital: Building Intelligence into Every Interaction
When your focus is anchored in making lives better, you gain the resilience to stay the course. Recognition, growth and results follow—but they arrive because the foundation is strong. Passion and purpose are what fuel progress
As our services became more digital, risk also reduced in many day-to day operations. New technologies like biometrics— facial recognition, fingerprint scanning and secure authentication—are adding a much-needed layer of fraud protection across both physical and digital channels. But security is only part of the evolution. Artificial Intelligence is helping us move from reactive to proactive service. Systems that once depended on manual product matching can now identify and recommend the best fit for each customer automatically. This shift toward the “next best offer” is not just about boosting sales. It’s about making every touchpoint relevant, timely and personal. The goal is a banking experience that feels intelligent and intuitive—where customers no longer need to search for what they need because the system already understands their intent.
Integration, Leadership and the Value of Showing Up
In 2022, I stepped into a new challenge: leading the integration of Citibank branches into our network. That meant aligning systems, staff and service standards across 195 branches and over 1,100 people. We merged four major Citibank branches while maintaining a seamless experience for both legacy and new customers. This effort marked the start of my broader leadership over the branch network.
Managing such a large footprint across 16 regions is not just about strategy. It’s about visibility. Leadership, in my view, is not something you perform from a boardroom. That’s why we launched Kumustahan with Ron Batisan—a program focused on in-person visits and honest conversations. These check-ins go beyond business metrics. I ask about their challenges, their ideas, strategies and even their personal lives.
This practice is rooted in servant leadership. I want people to see that I’m not just someone reviewing reports— I’m someone willing to travel across the country to hear them out face-to-face. That level of connection fosters a culture of accountability and support. When mistakes happen, we own them and help the team find a better way forward.
Purpose is the Real Driver of Innovation
Sustaining this kind of transformation isn’t about hitting KPIs or climbing the ladder. It’s about believing that change is worth it. I believed digital tools could make banking more human, not less. That belief carried me through the long rollout periods, the customer hesitations, the internal doubts.
When your focus is anchored in making lives better, you gain the resilience to stay the course. Recognition, growth and results follow—but they arrive because the foundation is strong. Passion and purpose are what fuel progress. In the end, I’ve learned that meaningful transformation doesn’t begin with technology. It begins with people—how you listen to them, how you serve them and how you lead them through change with empathy and clarity.
