First digital bank license issued in Philippines

Tonik, the Philippines’ first digital-only neobank has secured a digital bank license from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) – the first for any private and purely digital bank in the country.

The neobank’s highly successful public launch in March 2021, saw it secure over 1 billion pesos (US$20M) in retail deposits in under 1 month – a historic record for any new bank launching in the Philippines.Recently, Tonik also attained its Pre-Series B funding, solidifying its position as one of the highest funded fintechs in Southeast Asia.

“Securing a digital banking license is one of this year’s anticipated milestones for us,” said Greg Krasnov, Tonik CEO and Founder. “This will help us further strengthen our foothold in the neobanking space through accelerating the roll out of our additional lending and payment products.”

“We are truly privileged to be working with a regulator such as the BSP who shares the same vision of bolstering financial inclusion in the country,” stated Long Pineda, Country President at Tonik. “An official digital bank license will enable us to offer more products and services to narrow the gap between the banked population and the huge underserved segment in the Philippines.”

Tonik is on a mission to revolutionize the way money works with a new all-digital way of banking operating on a highly secure platform. The neobank offers accessible, flexible, and inclusive financial services, including industry-leading deposit interest rates of up to 6% per annum, and unique saving features such as its Solo Stash and Group Stash products, as well as Term Deposits.

Tonik is supervised by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and deposits are insured by the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation (PDIC). Its unique cloud-based solution is powered by global financial technology leaders such as Mastercard, Amazon Web Services, and Finastra.It is backed by top international venture capital funds, including Sequoia India and Point72. Tonik operates out of hubs in Singapore (HQ), Manila, Chennai, and Kyiv.