GoTyme Bank, a Gokongwei-backed fintech company, has recently entered into a partnership agreement with Visa and Bancnet to pursue its goal of enlisting more than 5.5 million users within three years.
The partnership with the two banking giants will also allow it to introduce a “hybrid debit card” in the Philippine market.
According to the digital bank, it will soon be launching its GoTyme Visa ATM Debit card, which is free for all account holders. Customers can get an account and a debit card instantly through the bank’s digital kiosks that will be put up in select Robinsons shopping malls throughout the country.
“Visa’s worldwide reach and expertise in digital payments, in synergy with BancNet’s extensive nationwide and offshore coverage, combined with GoTyme Bank and the Gokongwei brand’s reputation, technology, and understanding of the Philippines market, will offer consumers high-quality banking to every Filipino, and an exciting and rewarding digital payment and money movement experience,” stated GoTyme Bank, BancNet, and Visa in a joint statement.
Providing Filipinos access to high-quality debit cards
GoTyme’s partnership with the two industry leaders will also allow the digital bank to build on its success in Africa, where it had become the fastest Visa issuer on the continent.
“We feel we have the partnership and the product set and the capability, in particular with this physical and digital (product), to actually become the biggest bank in the Philippines in the next five years,” said Nathaniel Clarke, President and CEO of GoTyme Bank.
Clarke also noted that less than a third of Filipinos have access to high-quality debit cards, emphasizing its market potential in the Southeast Asian country.
For her part, Emmie Reyes, the CEO of BancNet, said that their partnership with GoTyme will allow users in the Philippines to have access to around 24,000 automated teller machines and more than 480,000 point-of-sale terminals nationwide.
“With this partnership, GoTyme will have access to the cutting-edge switch infrastructure that BancNet operates and which enables secure and reliable money transfers to other banks and e-wallets in real time,” Reyes said.
Making the digital payment experience more accessible
Meanwhile, Jeff Navarro, country manager of Visa for the Philippines and Guam, said that their network would help GoTyme debit card users to tap into its global e-commerce system.
“Visa has always remained committed to making the digital payment experience seamless, secure, and accessible to all,” Navarro said.
GoTyme’s Clarke also highlighted the ease of getting one, saying that the debit card will become widely available once launched sometime in October or November.
“To bring this to life, when you walk into any Robinson’s supermarket in a couple of months’ time, you will soon see this kiosk and you can get this debit card in real-time,” Clarke said, referring to the personalized physical card that can be used here and abroad.
People who download their app will also be able to generate a Visa-powered virtual card for free to use in their digital transactions.
“Through this (launch of hybrid debit cards), we’re hoping to encourage more Filipinos to embrace digital payments as the way forward towards a cashless society,” GoTyme Bank said in a press release.
GoTyme is one of only six digital banks licensed by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). The other digital banks are Overseas Filipino Bank (OF Bank), Tonik Bank, UNO Digital Bank, and Maya Bank.