TONIK to launch the first digital-only bank in the Philippines

TONIK is powered by BPC

The Philippines is about to welcome its first digital-only bank. TONIK Digital Bank Inc, founded in 2018, received its banking license from Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (Philippines’ Central Bank) in January 2020. Preparing for its launch, TONIK has selected BPC as its exclusive payment partner, leveraging BPC’s payments processing centre and its SmartVista solution.

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% 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 USD 140 billion for retail deposits, and a USD 100 billion unsecured consumer lending opportunity.

TONIK has chosen BPC with its paytech Radar Payments as its exclusive partner for payments processing activities, delivered through a Software as a Service (SaaS) model. All payments activities such as payment switching, fraud management and card lifecycle management will be handled from BPC’s global payment processing centre powered by its SmartVista range of digital banking solutions. This will enable TONIK to efficiently route transactions and provide a secure environment for its customers while gaining in speed to market and performance.

TONIK provides a great 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 selected BPC for two main reasons. Firstly, BPC will help TONIK operate efficiently and realise economies of scale, in line with its objective to bring fair banking to Filipinos. Secondly, BPC is leveraging 25 years of experience in handling large payment volumes in over 80 countries, an important criterion when addressing a market as vast and spread as the Philippines.

Greg Krasnov, founder and CEO of TONIK, commented: “The banking sector in the Philippines is ripe for digital disruption. With BPC, we rely on a partner that understands how startup digital banks need to operate and to scale efficiently at a fast pace. With BPC, we add a strong asset to our ecosystem to deliver banking and payments the way customers want, fast, affordable, efficient and highly secure.”

Jane Loginova, Chief Commercial Officer, BPC added:“We are proud to join TONIK in this journey to transform the way we bank in the Philippines. More and more, BPC is becoming a partner of choice for digital banks and financial inclusion initiatives. We look forward to making history in the Philippines with TONIK.”

Peter Theunis, Managing Director, BPC shared his enthusiasm, “We welcome TONIK to our newest processing platform. TONIK’s retail customers will experience fast and secure payment services, while the bank signs up for a compliant and future-proof platform which continues to evolve as regulatory compliance and consumer needs evolve too.”