GoTyme optimistic to reach 10M users ahead of target

Gokongwei-backed lender GoTyme Bank Corp. is optimistic to hit 10 million users a year before its initial target of five years, as the digital bank said it was set to reach 5 million users by the end of 2024.

According to GoTyme president and chief executive officer Nathaniel Clarke, the bank is projected to beat the 10-million user count in five years as it is onboarding some 250,000 to 280,000 users a month.

The bank currently has some 3 million users—70% of whom have a positive balance, 50% log in every month, while 35% do swipes.

The bank said it recorded its first million users in nine months and two weeks, the second million in five months and a week, and the third in four months.

"We'll hit 5 million this year which would be, which is essentially 5 million in two years, so I think we can hit 10 million in four years instead of five," he told GMA News Online in an interview in Quezon City.

Clarke in 2022 said it targets to become the country's top bank in the next five years with 10 million users, building on the success of Tyme—its sister company—in Africa which onboarded 5.5 million customers in three years.

Asked about the drivers of growth, Clarke said GoTyme is banking on "radically improving" the customer experience as compared to transacting with traditional banks, where processes could last for hours.

Profitability goal

In the same interview, Clarke said the firm targets to be profitable by 2025, but the focus remains on scaling up.

"I think we're much more focused on building that scale of engagement and then the profitability will come. On whether we break even at the end of the next year, that's our plan," he said.

"We just need to execute well. The most likely reason why we don't break even next year is a conscious decision not to [because] we want to grow faster," he added.

This was echoed by his co-CEO and chief commercial officer Albert Tinio, who said the bank is set to be faster than Tyme when it comes to reaching profitability.

“We’re growing much faster in terms of users, in terms of transactions, in terms of even revenue. If Tyme hit profitability in five years, we're projecting that we're going to hit profitability much faster than Tyme because all of our trends are faster than our sister company," he said.

GoTyme is one of the six banks approved by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to operate as digital banks in the country, along with Maya Bank Inc., the Overseas Filipino Bank Inc., Tonik Digital Bank Inc., UnionDigital Bank Inc., and UNObank Inc. — VDV, GMA Integrated News