UnionBank maintaining balance: no minimum, annual fee and dormancy

UnionBank digital savings accounts have no maintaining balance, but annual and product-specific fees can still apply.

The bank’s accounts differ. Some deposit products carry a minimum average daily balance (ADB), while Personal Savings instead has an annual service fee on UnionBank’s current fees page.

Short answer UnionBank says its digitally opened savings accounts have no required amount to open and no maintaining balance. The current retail fees page lists a ₱500 annual service fee for Personal Savings, effective May 1, 2025. Savings+ needs ₱25,000 in ADB only to qualify for its insurance benefit, not to keep the account open.

At a glance

• Digital account opening amountnone requiredUnionBank ↗ · checked 2026-10-14
• Digital savings maintaining balancenone requiredUnionBank ↗ · checked 2026-10-14
• Personal Savings annual service fee₱500, effective May 1, 2025UnionBank ↗ · checked 2026-10-14
• Savings+ ADB for insurance coverage₱25,000UnionBank ↗ · checked 2026-10-14
• Dormancy fee₱30 a month from the 61st month of inactivityUnionBank ↗ · checked 2026-10-14

UnionBank balance and fee table

The ₱1,000 below-balance charge is not a maintaining balance. It is the fee UnionBank publishes for a peso savings or current account that already has a product-specific minimum monthly ADB and remains below it for at least two consecutive months. A digital Personal Savings account with no maintaining-balance requirement does not acquire a ₱1,000 minimum because that fee exists.

No maintaining balance does not mean no account fee

UnionBank’s digital-opening page says there is no required amount to open an account and no amount required to maintain it. That answers whether the account must keep a minimum ADB.

The bank’s retail fees page answers a different question. It lists a ₱500 annual service fee for Personal Savings, effective May 1, 2025. A customer can therefore keep a digital Personal Savings account without a maintaining balance and still face an annual service fee.

This distinction matters when comparing accounts:

• Maintaining balance is the minimum monthly ADB tied to a below-balance charge.
• Annual service fee is collected on a yearly schedule under the account’s terms.
• Balance to earn interest is the threshold used to calculate interest.
• Benefit threshold is an amount needed for an extra feature, such as Savings+ insurance coverage.

One number should not be substituted for another.

The UnionBank pages do not agree on the annual fee

UnionBank’s account FAQ and digital-opening page still describe a ₱350 Personal Savings annual fee. They also say the first year is waived and that keeping ₱10,000 in ADB waives the fee for the following year.

The bank’s dedicated retail fees page lists ₱500 and labels it effective May 1, 2025. Because that fees page carries the later effective date, this guide uses ₱500 as the current published charge. The older ₱350 wording remains live on UnionBank’s site.

Warning Read the product summary and fee shown in the UnionBank app before opening the account. The official pages currently disagree on the annual fee, so the final account disclosure is the safest record for your specific application.

The mismatch does not change the separate statement that digital accounts have no maintaining balance.

What ₱25,000 means for Savings+

UnionBank’s FAQ says Savings+ needs ₱25,000 in ADB to qualify for insurance coverage. It does not call ₱25,000 a maintaining balance for the deposit account.

If the ADB falls below ₱25,000, the published consequence is about the insurance benefit. Do not describe the threshold as a below-balance fee unless the product disclosure for the account says so.

ADB is an average, not the closing balance on one day. A simplified calculation adds the end-of-day balances for the month and divides by the number of calendar days. Depositing ₱25,000 on the final day does not produce a ₱25,000 ADB for the whole month.

When the ₱1,000 below-balance fee can apply

The retail fees page lists ₱1,000 for peso savings and current accounts when the balance remains below the account’s minimum monthly ADB for at least two consecutive months.

The rule has three parts:

1. the account product must have a minimum monthly ADB;
2. the average must be below that requirement;
3. the shortfall must continue for at least two consecutive months.

The actual minimum comes from the product’s own disclosure.

For a cross-bank comparison, see maintaining balance by bank. It separates the required ADB from the fee and the month count.

Dormancy and early account closure

UnionBank publishes a ₱30 monthly dormancy fee for peso savings and current accounts starting on the 61st month of inactivity. The same amount appears for dollar accounts.

Dormancy is different from falling below an ADB. A dormant account has gone without customer activity for the period defined in the bank’s terms. The fee also starts much later than the account first becoming inactive.

The fees page separately lists ₱2,000 for closing a peso account within 30 days and US$40 for closing a dollar account within 30 days. Those are early-closing charges, not penalties for a low balance.

Opening a digital UnionBank savings account

UnionBank’s digital-opening page describes this route:

1. Open UnionBank Online and choose Open An Account.
2. Select a savings account with a debit card.
3. Provide a Philippine mobile number and complete the OTP step.
4. Enter the requested personal, address, employment and source-of-funds details.
5. Photograph an accepted original ID and take the selfie requested by the app.
6. Submit the application and wait for the activation notice.

The FAQ says no opening amount is required. It also says a physical card is requested after the account opens, and the current fees page lists ₱200 for new debit-card requests, effective May 1, 2025.

Do not send an OTP, password or activation link to anyone offering to open the account for you.

How to check your own account

A current account can differ from a new digital application because product names, fee versions and migration terms change.

Check these four records:

• the product name in UnionBank Online;
• the disclosure or terms accepted when the account was opened;
• the anniversary date used for any annual fee;
• the latest fee schedule and messages in the app.

If a charge appears, compare its description and date with the account terms before treating it as a below-balance fee.