Singapore’s Tonik to enter Philippines

MANILA, Philippines — Tonik Digital Bank Inc. is set to raise the bar in the digital banking space in the Philippines this year after getting the green light from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

Greg Krasnov, founder and chief executive officer of Singapore-based Tonik Financial Pte Ltd., said the company is honored to be chosen by the BSP as a test partner in bringing these global best practices to the Philippines through the first digital-only bank license in the Philippines and Southeast Asia.

“We believe that the regulator’s confidence in us serves as the testament to the unique strength and track record of our team and the attractiveness of our product philosophy.  We look forward to bringing a new level of digital banking services to the Filipino clients,” Krasnov said.

The license from the BSP allows Tonik to provide a full range of retail banking services, focused primarily on retail deposits and consumer loans, through the first digital-only branchless bank licensed platform in the Philippines, starting in 2020.

Tonik believes that Philippines banking sector is ripe for a digital disruption, and will follow the lead of other markets globally, where digital-only “neobanks” have rapidly captured millions of customers and attracted over $5 B of investor funding in the last two years alone.