Universal Processing, a financial technology company, celebrated the grand opening of its new headquarters in Times Square on Thursday, June 26. State officials, company employees, and community members gathered at the new office at 215 West 40th Street to honor the company’s expansion—and to recognize the extraordinary efforts of its president, Saint Hung, who played a vital role in helping more than 35,000 Asian American-owned businesses survive the pandemic.
The celebration, held on the fifth anniversary of the COVID-19 crisis, drew figures including former New York Governors George Pataki and David Paterson. Guests enjoyed drinks, the new office space, and a menu including pizza, spring rolls, popcorn chicken, and lo mein.
A lifeline during COVID
At the height of the pandemic, Universal Processing stepped far beyond its role as a payment processor. As businesses shuttered and fear spread, Hung and his team went door to door—hospitals, clinics, fire departments, essential stores—delivering the KN95 masks they had sourced themselves.
“There was not really a choice,” Hung said. “Sometimes, when there’s nobody to step up, and you look around, that person has to be you.”
While many firms adopted a “lean and mean” strategy, Universal went in the opposite direction.
“We do not believe in layoffs. In 22 years of operating, we’ve never laid off a single employee,” Hung said. “There was a time where our bank accounts were very, very lean for a company of 100 employees–100 plus employees–having only, you know, six figures, $100,000–$150,000 in the bank account.”
“That’s one pay period or half of a pay period, and we faced those balances multiple times,” said Hung.
Former Governor Pataki commended Hung’s leadership. “Many of those small businesses might not have survived except Universal Processing put together a program, reached out to the small business agencies, and got funding,” said Pataki, “Without what you did during that terrible time, many of the businesses that New York counts on wouldn’t be here today.”
Rooted in the immigrant experience
He actually helped build the new Yankee Stadium, and he just had a work record of almost 40 years serving New York, and being that he served New York and I grew up in New York, everything I do starts from New York.
For Hung, the Times Square location carries a personal meaning.
“I am the son of a handicapped Taiwanese immigrant,” he said. “My father was an architect. He actually helped build Times Square two separate times.”
Now, Hung is planting his company’s flag in the same area.
“Thirty-six years after my father worked on the Times Square redevelopment project with the famous architect Philip Johnson, I am here to stake my claim, raise Universal’s flag, and let everybody know that we are here to serve local business owners,” said Hung.
That immigrant identity fuels Universal’s mission. I’m not going to comment undocumented versus undocumented. We do not discriminate,” said Hung. He added that Universal Processing supports a diverse range of small businesses, including those owned by non-immigrants, Black, white, Latino, LGBTQ individuals, and especially women.
He added that more than 60% of Universal’s staff are women.
Serving the underserved
Much of Universal’s outreach focused on Asian American business owners during the pandemic, many of them lacking English proficiency or were unfamiliar with complex loan documents. Through the SBA’s Community Navigator Pilot Program, Universal helped businesses apply for aid under the COVID Relief Fund.
“We were able to walk on the street and reach tens of thousands of businesses,” said Hung. He said Universal proceedings was able to grant these businesses “time, give them consulting, give them resources, help them translate loan documentation, help them in their own language.”
Reflecting on the challenges of the pandemic, Hung said administration hurdles made it difficult to reach communities. “So instead of waiting for feedback from the administration, we simply just went out and went feet on the street, knocking on doors,” he said.
“We were not there to make money. We were there to serve our community, so we went out there and we got the job done,” said Hung.
Even after the formal SBA program ended, Universal kept its doors open to businesses in need.
“We still occasionally have businesses that come by, ask for us to review and consult them on their business plans,” Hung said. “We would still be glad to offer our knowledge and our experience.”
A future in AI—and Flushing
The Times Square office is just the beginning. Hung outlined major expansion plans: a new location in Flushing, Queens; growth into Brooklyn; and a development hub in Taipei, Taiwan.
“We’ve just grown three times in Times Square,” Hung said. “We’re growing our development office in Taipei because that is probably where the biggest concentration of quality AI talent is.”
The company is also investing in artificial intelligence tools to scale customer service. It’s developing a large language model–style technology to help support, replicate, expand, and grow its customer service efforts for the community, while also exploring plans to expand into other key cities across the United States.
Universal also continues to support immigrant employees with H-1B visas and green card sponsorships. “We’re very, very lucky to have multiple successful Green Card cases,” Hung said. “We’ve always done everything we can to grant H1B visas to individuals that work hard and deserve it.”
