GoTyme targets 10 million active users in next five years

Gokongwei-backed digital lender GoTyme Bank Corp. targets to become the country’s top bank in the next five years, as it seeks to onboard some 10 million active users during the period.

President and Chief Executive Officer Nathaniel Clarke said the bank will leverage its model, which provides clients with automated teller machine (ATM) cards on top of the mobile application and online banking.

“I think this may sound brash, but we feel we have the partnership and the products and the capability, particularly with this physical and digital, to actually become the biggest bank in the Philippines in the next five years,” Clarke told reporters in Makati City.

GoTyme is a joint venture of multi-country digital banking group Tyme, and members of the Gokongwei Group - Robinsons Bank, Robinsons Land Corp., and Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc. - which own a 60% stake.

“If we’re gonna deliver what we say, if we want our aspiration to be one of the biggest banks, we’re gonna have to onboard 10 million customers… More than 10 million customers in five years,” Clarke said.

The company has since partnered with Philippine interbank ATM and online banking network BancNet and digital payments platform Visa in line with its commercial rollout mid-October.

The partnership will enable GoTyme customers to transact at over 24,000 ATMs and over 480,000 points of sale terminals of BancNet across the country, along with the worldwide network of Visa.

The lender is also set to roll out kiosks across major areas in the country to onboard customers. These will initially be made available in Metro Manila and prime areas in the Visayas and Mindanao.

“We are building on the success of Tyme in South Africa, which became the fastest issuer in the continent, and we are bringing it to the Philippines with GoTyme Bank,” Clarke said, noting that there were 5.5 million customers onboarded in Africa in three years.

The company seeks to make the onboarding process within five minutes, providing banking and payment needs and personalized physical cards.

GoTyme is one of the six banks approved by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to operate as digital banks in the country after securing the necessary license in August.

“I think the reality is it takes time to build a trusted brand. We’re not gonna flip the switch and have a thousand kiosks nationwide,” Clarke said, but added that the company remains cautiously optimistic, with the target possibly reached ahead of schedule.

Clarke said the company is set to provide clients access to other asset classes in the first half of 2023, including equities and cryptocurrencies. — DVM, GMA News