The Gokongwei Group’s GOtyme, its online-only bank, will start its business in the second of quarter of 2022, promising a revolutionary way of digital banking.
GOtyme is owned by conglomerate JG Summit Holdings of the Gokongwei group with partner, Singapore-based Tyme or TymeBank, controlled by African Rainbow Capital and a British private equity fund, Apis Growth Fund II. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has recently approved JG Summit’s application for a digital banking license which will make them the country’s fifth digital bank license approved.
Jojo Malolos, the CEO of GOtyme, said their own take of digital banking will “fundamentally change financial access for all Filipinos” by providing services to consumers “where they are currently in their digital journey.”
Malolos said it is not just about easier and a more convenient access to financial services but also providing solutions and “financial empowerment” to a majority of the population.
GOtyme will soft launch to a limited number of customers in the second quarter next year and will “ramp up over time,” according to Nate Clarke, the co-CEO.
GOtyme will apply one superapp to catch all services that customers will need from a digital bank.
“GOtyme will launch with one app which will be available for download across the Android, iOS, or Huawei app stores,” said Clarke. The Tyme Group will replicate in the Philippines what they did in South Africa where “simplicity and transparency is at the heart of our proposition design,” he added.
“GOtyme will bring market-firsts from a proposition perspective but more importantly we will reach and serve our customers through a unique 'high-tech, high-touch' distribution model that eases their transition into digital banking,” said Clarke. In South Africa, he said three million of its 3.5 million customers opened accounts with TymeBank via digital kiosks in malls and retail outlets. This set up is doable with the retail networks of the Gokongwei Group.
JG Summit President and CEO Lance Y. Gokongwei said their strategy with GOtyme will be similar to its budget airline company, Cebu Pacific. “What Cebu Pacific has done for travel is what we plan for GOtyme to deliver in financial services,” said Gokongwei.
Malolos said Cebu Pacific has transformed air travel for the country’s mass market. “It was not about the fee or the ticket structure, but the basic fact that air travel is now made accessible to every Juan. In the same way, we see GOtyme to fundamentally change financial access for all Filipinos by giving access, and providing solutions and financial empowerment that democratizes financial access,” he said.
The BSP issued its rules on digital banking last December 2020. Based on the circular, all approved digital bank applications are given a year to complete pre-operating requirements and commence banking operations. In the meantime, existing banks converting to digital banks should complete the transition within three years from date of acquiring a Monetary Board approval.
Digital banks, which will require at least P1 billion capitalization, have minimal or zero-reliance on physical touchpoints but must set up one office as central hub in the Philippines to receive and resolve customer complaints.