iGTB in talks to partner with two potential digital banking entrants
INTELLECT GLOBAL Transaction Banking (iGTB) is looking to partner with two entities that are seeking to secure digital bank licenses from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), its top official said last week.
The company, a global transaction banking platform, can help these new digital lenders scale their services to offer solutions to depositors, iGTB Chief Executive Officer Manish Maakan told reporters during a briefing last week.
He said they are already in talks with two entities that want to enter the Philippine digital banking market.
iGTB is not looking to partner with online banks that are already operating in the country as they have already invested in technology, Mr. Maakan added.
The Monetary Board last month approved the lifting of the moratorium on new digital banking licenses starting Jan. 1, 2025, allowing four more digital banks to operate in the country.
This would bring the maximum number to 10. These can either be new applicants or banks that seek to convert their existing license to a digital one.
The six online lenders currently operating are Tonik Digital Bank, Inc.; GoTyme Bank of the Gokongwei group and Singapore-based Tyme; Maya Bank of Voyager Innovations, Inc.; Overseas Filipino Bank, a subsidiary of Land Bank of the Philippines; UNObank of DigibankASIA Pte. Ltd.; and UnionDigital Bank of Union Bank of the Philippines, Inc.
Mr. Maakan said the new digital banks are expected to face challenges once they begin operating as their competitors are all targeting the same market, as they still have to build brand trust.
“What happens in the digital bank [space] is it’s the youngsters who adopt them first. And when you are younger, you don’t have balances. When you open accounts, you only have a few transactions,” he said. “Nobody is going to give you loans. So, these fintechs (financial technology firms) grow by scaling up account acquisition.”
iGTB can help these new online-only banks through its open finance platform eMACH.ai and by building technology solutions.
“We look at an event in any consumer’s life — be it retail consumer or a corporate consumer. We are able to orchestrate processes for that event and create business services and connect it to any ecosystem, internal or external. So, if a bank wants to launch a new service, you can coexist along with whatever they have invested in and scale them up,” he said. — AMCS