Similar to TymeBank in South Africa, GoTyme Bank provides next-generation digital banking services through kiosks installed at retail locations owned by Robinsons Retail Holdings, a division of the Gokongwei Group. By the end of 2023, there will be 348 GoTyme Bank kiosks operating. Millions of Filipinos who are currently shut out of the formal banking system will now have access to safe, practical, and high-quality financial services thanks to these GoTyme Bank kiosks that will be opening up all around the country.
At launch, GoTyme Bank is offering clients a free Visa debit card for both in-person and online transactions, bank transfers through the mobile app, and a rewards program, Go Rewards, through partner Robinsons. Filipino clients place a high value on the ability to conduct digital transactions because the country is seen as a global leader in the digitisation of financial services. This increase in digital transactions has been driven both by the pandemic and by Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP)’s commitment to reaching 50% of total transactions being digital by 2023.
The Singapore-based Tyme Group and Mambu have a history of working together in South Africa. Mambu helped South Africa's TymeBank become a fully functional digital bank. Tyme Group and Mambu have collaborated with Gokongwei Group to develop GoTyme Bank in the Philippines.
TymeBank rose to 50,000 customers in just under three months after a soft launch in December 2018, when it went live at 20 'Pick n Pay' and 'Boxer' outlets around the nation. TymeBank was not built for the cloud, and in order to accommodate their quickly expanding customer base, it needed the scalability and agility that only a cloud-native solution could provide.
Because Mambu's cloud-native banking technology offered scalability and a rapid time to market, they decided to employ it. In the six months it took to install, 85% of TymeBank's infrastructure was moved to the Amazon Web Services (AWS) platform, cutting their operational expenditures in half.
As stated in the official press release, steps are being taken to introduce digital banks in other regions of Asia now that the Mambu/Tyme Group digital banking model has proven effective in two countries.
In the Philippines, access to electronic payments has significantly improved in recent years, although basic account access is simply the start of what is needed. Less than 3% of Filipinos currently have access to low-cost credit, such as a credit card, insurance, and high-yield investments, such as stocks.
However, according to the BSP 2021 Financial Inclusion Survey (FIS) findings, account ownership rose from 29% in 2019 to 56% in 2021.
Six out of ten Filipinos have changed their financial habits during the pandemic. Filipinos boosted their emergency savings by 37%, started using online banking and digital payments more frequently by 17%, and increased their borrowing by 15%.
The FIS also revealed that, in 2021, among those with mobile phones and internet access, 60% made payments and fund transfers online, a significant increase from 17% in 2019.
However, there are still challenges with the financial inclusion objective. The fundamental obstacles to owning an account, such as a lack of income and transaction fees, persist.
To learn more about Mambu, check out the company profile in The Paypers Company Database.
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