Mastercard partners with tonik, Philippines’ first digital-only neobank, to accelerate financial inclusion

Mastercard today announced a new partnership agreement with tonik, a two-year-old startup which recently received a bank license in the Philippines. Through this partnership, Mastercard will further enhance tonik’s market proposition by enabling the latter to issue a range of electronic payments products that taps into Mastercard’s global network and extensive business intelligence when tonik launches operationally later this year.

Internet penetration in the Philippines is at 67 percent[1], and one third of the population is millennials[2]—many of whom are digital natives. However, according to the 2017 Financial Inclusion Survey by Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), over 70 percent of the country’s population is unbanked[3]. At the same time, 60 percent of Filipinos who are either in the formal banking system or can become part or the system, are willing to use offerings that are digitally focused[4]. Achieving financial inclusion by leveraging financial technology has been top on the agenda for Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, which has set the goal of doubling the number of Filipinos with formal bank accounts by 2023[5].

Driving digital financial inclusion and expanding access to formal financial services for the unserved and underserved population is one of the cornerstones of tonik’s proposition. As a mobile-only digital bank, tonik is able to develop highly customized, scalable banking solutions that fit the needs of a customer base that is incredibly diverse, ranging from people who are just making their first forays into the formal banking system, through to customers who have held accounts and used financial products for most of their adult lives. Because of its digital-first approach, tonik is well placed to meet consumers’ needs and demands irrespective of where they live, work and do business.

“We want to empower the underserved and unserved Filipinos by giving them simple, accessible, and fast digital banking experiences. We want our customers to easily gain familiarity with transacting and banking digitally in order to help them harness the full potential of the rapidly changing digital economy. Our partnership with Mastercard is about injecting more speed, scale, and performance into all facets of our business. Having immediate access to Mastercard’s global payment network, safety & security technology, data and analytics services, AI technology, and cybersecurity capabilities will be essential to tonik’s growth and success in today’s digital-first reality,” said Greg Krasnov, CEO & Founder, tonik.

Orchestrating this partnership is Mastercard Fintech Express, a tailored program which provides fintechs such as tonik with increased speed-to-market, access to a suite of digital-first products, and a cross functional team of experts to provide strategic counsel and advisory across product, partnerships, licensing and legal to be able to successfully build their offerings.

“The entire payments ecosystem thrives when fintechs have access to the technology they need to reach scale and make finances widely accessible. tonik exemplifies an agile and innovative fintech whose ambition of driving financial inclusion in the Philippines through digital-first products and seamless consumer experiences is closely aligned with Mastercard’s mission to connect and power an inclusive, digital economy that benefits everyone. tonik’s ability to secure a bank license as a startup is nothing short of exceptional and Mastercard is delighted to partner with them to enhance the Philippines’ digital banking space and to boost the nation’s financial inclusion journey,” said Rama Sridhar, Executive Vice President, Digital & Emerging Partnerships and New Payment Flows, Asia Pacific, Mastercard.

tonik will launch with a full range of banking services including a transactional savings account with a debit card, savings and term deposit accounts with attractive interest rates, as well as a range of consumer loans in Q3 2020. Debit Mastercard cards will be available to customers at the end of the year and will allow customers to transact and withdraw cash from everywhere Mastercard is accepted. Additional services such as loans, credit cards, and fund transfer categories will be made available in the course of 2021.