GoTyme Bank eyes profitability by 2027

MANILA, Philippines — Digital lender GoTyme Bank expects to turn profitable by 2027 as it accelerates customer growth and builds scale after onboarding nearly eight million customers since its launch three years ago.

“We’re not profitable yet, but our economics are good. We just need to get bigger scale,” GoTyme Bank president and CEO Nathaniel Clarke told The STAR on the sidelines of the 2025 Singapore Fintech Festival.

“We’re profitable at a customer level but not the level of banking, which is as planned,” he said. “It’ll be in 2027 or in about 18 months. But it kind of depends on how fast we want to grow.”

Clarke said the bank is prioritizing rapid expansion even if it adds to costs in the short term. The bank intentionally spends heavily on customer acquisition as it onboards 250,000 to 300,000 customers every month.

He added that shareholders are aligned with the strategy, as achieving massive scale will eventually translate into stronger profitability.

Clarke said the bank is projecting to end the year at around 8.3 million to 8.5 million.

GoTyme’s customer base has now reached 7.9 million as of Nov. 13.

Deposits have also climbed to P37 billion, and with holiday inflows, Clarke expects this to reach “probably close to P40 billion in deposits” as consumers receive their 13th month pay.

Clarke said GoTyme is building a much larger business than originally planned.

“We thought we were going to do five million customers in three years, and now we’re almost at eight million,” he said. “So that actually adds a lot of cost.”

He also said that GoTyme’s long-term strategy is anchored on the belief that “the most valuable digital banks in the world 10 years from now are going to be retail, everyday banks.”

Clarke said digital banks enjoy structural advantages over traditional players, noting that the cost of onboarding and serving customers can be as low as one-fifth to one-tenth of that of incumbent banks. He said this allows digital banks to pass on better value to consumers.

As account opening and fund transfers move toward an instantaneous and frictionless future, Clarke said competition would hinge on three pillars: customer experience, value and trust.

He noted that digital banks are naturally positioned to lead on experience and value, while trust will remain a crucial differentiator for all players.

Clarke said GoTyme would continue to expand its services in the next few years.

“We aim to actually offer the full financial services suite and then also start crossing into commerce and travel,” he said.

“We see ourselves as a financial services platform where you come for your everyday,” he added.

GoTyme Bank earlier forged two landmark partnerships with Visa and Wise Platform to accelerate digital payment innovation and improve cross-border remittances for millions of Filipinos.