Digital bank eyes 5.5M users in 3 years

Gokongwei-backed digital lender GoTyme Bank aims to enlist more than 5.5 million users in three years after it partnered with banking giants BancNet and Visa to launch a hybrid debit card in the Philippine market.

With the partnership with the two industry leaders, GoTyme said on Tuesday it could build on its success in the African continent, where it had become the fastest Visa issuer in the continent.

“We feel we have the partnership and the product set and the capability, in particular with this physical and digital (product), to actually become the biggest bank in the Philippines in the next five years,”

GoTyme Bank president and CEO Nathaniel Clarke said at the sidelines of the debit card debut in Makati.
Clarke also noted that less than a third of Filipinos have access to high-quality debit cards, emphasizing the market potential in the Southeast Asian country.

BancNet CEO Emmie Reyes said that with their partnership with GoTyme, users would have access to around 24,000 ATMs (automated teller machines) and more than 480,000 point-of-sale terminals nationwide.

“With this partnership, GoTyme will have access to the cutting-edge switch infrastructure that BancNet operates and which enables secure and reliable money transfers to other banks and e-wallets in real time,” Reyes said.

On the other hand, Jeff Navarro, Visa country manager for the Philippines and Guam, said their network would help GoTyme debit card users to tap into the global e-commerce system.

“Visa has always been committed to making the digital payment experience seamless, secure and accessible to all,” Navarro said.

GoTyme’s Clarke also highlighted the ease in getting one, saying that the debit card would be widely available once launched sometime in October or November.

“To bring this to life, when you walk into a Robinson’s supermarket in a couple of months’ time, you will see this kiosk and you can get this debit card in real time,” he said, referring to a personalized physical card which can be used here and abroad.

More so, people who download their app will also be able to generate a Visa-powered virtual card for free to use in their digital transactions.

“Through this, we hope to encourage more Filipinos to embrace digital payments as the way forward towards a cashless society,” GoTyme Bank co-CEO Albert Tino said.

GoTyme is one of only six digital banks licensed by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.
Digital banking is a new category of lenders created by the central bank to reach the unbanked.