Tonik attracts P5 billion deposits in 8 months

MANILA, Philippines — Tonik, a purely digital and branchless bank, has secured P5 billion worth of deposits within only eight months since it went live in the Philippines.

Tonik chief executive officer and founder Greg Krasnov said the country’s first digital-only neobank was built to accelerate financial inclusion in the Philippines, especially for Filipinos who deserve to have the fully digital ease and convenience in their banking experience.

“We are very grateful that we’re now closer to reaching this goal with the overwhelming support that we are receiving from our customers. To make this holiday season sweeter, and further accelerate on customer acquisition, we are launching welcome bonus and referral programs that will enable our customers to earn upon joining or by inviting their friends to start a neobanking romance with us,” Krasnov said.

Tonik also recently launched its first lending product called Quick Loan – a game-changing all-digital loan product designed to serve the vast unbanked and underbanked Filipino middle class with a quick and affordable bank loan proposition in less than 15 minutes.

Tonik president Long Pineda earlier told The STAR the neobank continues to blaze a trail in the local banking industry as it immediately secured P1 billion in retail deposits on the first month of its operations when it was launched last March.

Tonik secured its digital banking license from Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) after it decided to convert its rural banking classification to a digital bank.

“Our traction since public launch has been steadily growing, and we attribute this to the ever-increasing demand for digital banking and cashless services during the pandemic,” Pineda said.

The pandemic has served as a catalyst to digitalization and boosts the efforts of the BSP to convert 50 percent of total retail transactions to electronic channels and increase the number of Filipino adults with bank accounts to 70 percent by 2023.

“The new normal has radically transformed customer demand for more efficient and secure services especially when it comes to their money. We can expect that the direction for banking will be digital in the years to come,” Pineda said.

He said operating on a completely digital platform has allowed the neobank to focus on developing a customer-centric banking journey that provide quick wins to customers.

“Sus taining this is an easier option for us as Tonik is built to be 100 percent digital – simply put, we are not saddled with high overhead costs that come with the traditional brick-and-mortar bank operation,” Pineda said.

According to Pineda, the Philippines has a huge potential market value of up to $140 billion in retail deposits and $100 billion in lending as around 70 percent of the adult population is underserved or unbanked.

“This is because traditional banks simply do not offer compelling propositions especially for loans. To address this gap, we are maintaining our focus on effectively deploying our deposit base through profitable lending models,” Pineda said.