The Philippines is about to welcome its first digital-only bank. Tonik Digital Bank, founded in 2018, received its banking license from the Philippines’ Central Bank. Preparing for its launch, Tonik has selected BPC as its exclusive payment partner.
Digital-only bank Tonik faces a significant challenge. The Philippines has a population of over 100 million, spread across a vast territory of 7,600 islands but 70 percent of that population is currently unbanked. Tonik intends to boost financial inclusion.
Funded by Forum, a fintech venture capital firm in Southeast Asia, it will focus on retail banking products ranging from deposits to consumer loans. The bank estimates it is addressing an untapped market of $140 billion for retail deposits, and a $100 billion unsecured consumer lending opportunity, according to a media release sent on Thursday.
In Just a Matter of Months
The firm provides an example of how fast neobanks can go to market – in just a matter of months – by using an agile approach. The bank will launch within the year using blocks of best-of-breed solutions to focus solely on delivering a hyper-compelling offer and experience to customers.
Tonik will use BPC’s Radar Payments solution to simplify the increasingly complex payment ecosystem. The neobank selected BPC for two main reasons: Firstly, BPC will help Tonik to operate efficiently and realize economies of scale, in line with its objective to bring fair banking to Filipinos. Secondly, BPC is leveraging 20 years of experience in handling large payment volumes in over 80 countries.
