GoTyme expects profitability within three years

GOTYME BANK expects to be profitable within the next three years as it plans to introduce more products and as its customer base continues to grow.

“Our sister company, TymeBank in South Africa, broke even in under five years, making it the fastest profitable standalone digital bank in South Africa. GoTyme Bank is bullish on achieving profitability even faster than TymeBank in South Africa since we’re significantly ahead of them on all key metrics over the same time period,” GoTyme Co-Chief Executive Officer and Chief Commercial Officer Albert Raymund O. Tinio said in an e-mail.

The Gokongwei-backed digital lender began commercial operations in October 2022 and has since grown its customer base to 2.7 million. GoTyme Bank President and Chief Executive Officer Nathaniel D. Clarke said they aim to grow their customer base to five million by the end of this year.

“Throughout the rest of the year, GoTyme Bank plans to introduce new products and services to cater to diverse financial needs,” Mr. Tinio said.

Disbursements for its small business loan product are expected to grow significantly to reach a “sizeable small business lending book size” by the end of this year, Mr. Clarke noted.

GoTyme Bank launched its first loan product for micro, small, and medium enterprises late last year in partnership with PayMongo.

“We have seen great adoption of the loan product through our collaboration with PayMongo while this is still in the early ‘test and learn’ phase with PayMongo’s customer base,” he said.

He added that GoTyme Bank will be introducing dollar-denominated deposit accounts this year, in addition to investment products, rewards and benefits for GoTyme Bank Visa debit card holders.

“The GoTyme Bank Visa debit card is offering more rewards whenever our customers use it shopping abroad, gassing up with Caltex, or flying with Cebu Pacific,” he added.

Mr. Clarke said he is optimistic about the outlook for the digital banking industry as there is a pent-up demand for digital financial services.

GoTyme Bank is a partnership between the Gokongwei group, which holds a 60% stake, and Singapore-based digital banking group Tyme, which has 40%.

It is one of the six online banks that got licenses to operate from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, with the others being Tonik Digital Bank, Inc., Maya Bank, Overseas Filipino Bank, UNObank, and UnionDigital Bank. — Aaron Michael C. Sy