Tonik Financial Pte, a Singapore-based fintech, said its Tonik Digital Bank Inc. subsidiary in the Philippines was granted regulatory approval to operate the first pure digital bank in that country. 

The approval from Central Bank of the Philippines will allow Tonik to provide a range of financial services in that market, focused primarily on retail deposit accounts and consumer loans. 

The company considers that market ripe for disruption, with a $140 billion retail deposit market and a $100 billion unsecured consumer lending market. Officials said 70% of the Phillipine population remains unbanked and cited market research showing 50% of existing bank customers would like to move their accounts to a pure digital challenger. 

"Digital only banks globally have successfully demonstrated their ability to take massive market share by launching hyper-compelling consumer propositions, while also operating at disruptively low unit costs, and thus generating outstanding returns on assets and equity," Greg Krasnov, founder and CEO of Tonik, said in a company release. "We are honored to have been chosen by the regulator as a test partner in bringing these global practices to the Philippines through the first digital-only bank license in the Philippines and indeed Southeast Asia."

Cover image: Tonik