Tinkoff announces that it has selected BPC’s SaaS Cloud payment services for its planned expansion to the Philippines. The project is an extension to an existing partnership between the two companies and is a testimony to BPC’s proven technical expertise in digital banking and payments.  

In addition to BPC’s award-winning technology, Tinkoff chose the firm over its competitors for a number of reasons, citing in particular BPC’s extensive local knowledge and experience in the Philippines and across Asia. 

Under the terms of the new agreement, BPC’s next generation payment processing company Radar Payments will manage the end-to-end payment experience for prospective Tinkoff customers in the Philippines. This includes virtual and physical card production, as well as debit, credit card issuance and management, SmartVista ACS for 3DS secure services and fraud prevention. 

BPC will support Tinkoff in cloud SaaS payment adoption in the Philippines, a trend that has emerged globally for many reasons, including greater flexibility in accessing banking services, as well as cost savings and security. Banks are tapping into the expertise of payment processors to focus on client relationships, while neobanks and fintechs bring new offerings to new markets faster than ever, using ready-to-connect payment rails across various geographies.

The Philippines is one of the fastest growing markets in South East Asia that is ripe for transformation. The Central Bank has recently been granting new banking licences to foster healthy competition and improve financial accessibility and inclusion. 

BPC has been active in the Philippines for over 15 years serving banks, neobanks, rural banks and transport operators contributing to better financial inclusion using next-generation technology. The company has been building a strong reputation for understanding and mastering local banking and payment context and behaviour, key criteria that appealed to Tinkoff when making their selection. Tinkoff also chose BPC for its capability to support their ambitious growth both in terms of customers and expected transaction volume. While launching a new bank in an old economy could have taken years from licensing to deployment, new economy players are looking for partners that could match their ambition to deploy efficiently and fast, while ensuring a sustainable business model. 

Launched in 2006 as a branchless credit card issuer, Tinkoff has grown into one of the largest and most profitable digital banks globally, serving over 20 million customers. Tinkoff provides financial and lifestyle services via its digital ecosystem. This includes Tinkoff Bank, which offers a full range of banking and payments services, as well as cinema, theatre, travel reservations and much more via the Tinkoff super app, the first super app launched in Europe. The Tinkoff ecosystem also includes Tinkoff Investments brokerage, Tinkoff Acquiring, Tinkoff Business, a fintech ecosystem for SMEs and larger businesses, and other business lines.

With a focus on lifestyle banking, the Tinkoff ecosystem enables customers to make purchases, invest their savings, earn loyalty programme rewards, book trips, buy cinema tickets, make restaurant reservations and access other services. 

George Chesakov, International Expansion Lead at Tinkoff, commented: “Tinkoff is excited about entering the Philippines market. We believe our technology and experience will help us build the right products, boosting financial inclusion in the country. With BPC’s payment processing business, we have a partner with whom we have a long-standing relationship and who aligns with our SaaS Cloud vision. Moreover, we value BPC’s strong local knowledge of the Philippines’ banking sector, which should help us start operating in this market faster.” 

Evgenia Loginova, CEO at Radar Payments by BPC, said: “We could not be any prouder to continue our journey serving Tinkoff and its future customers in Asia. Success depends on the speed of deployment of new services in the digital banking industry, especially in the Philippines market, which will welcome a number of new market players in 2022.”