Private neobank Tonik, which is operating under its own digital bank license by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), has launched physical debit cards for clients of its mobile app.

Tonik customers can now order physical debit cards through the app, and use these cards at any ATM or merchant that is part of Mastercard’s global network, which includes the majority of the ATMs and card-accepting merchants in the Philippines.

“Filipino consumers increasingly prefer the convenience of physical debit cards for their daily transactions. However, the security of card payments remains their primary concern,” said Greg Krasnov, founder and CEO, Tonik. “Our physical debit cards are specifically designed to offer a highly secure payment experience. We hope this will help the Philippines continue on its rapid path of transition towards a cashless society and will help drive higher financial inclusion in the country.”

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Responding to the needs of Filipino consumers for higher security of card transactions, Tonik’s debit cards are equipped with multiple pioneering features for secure payments.

Card security

The card does not bear the name and card number of the account holder. In case the card was lost, the app provides controls that will enable cardholders to freeze and unfreeze the debit card for transactions. The card was designed with 3D Secure and advanced antifraud, powered by Mastercard’s state-of-the-art security suite.

Tonik encourages its customers to use their virtual card for online transactions, instead of the physical card, as in the unlikely event of the card being compromised the virtual card is very quick and easy to replace.

Tonik said that its debit cards offer the highest potential transaction limit in the market of up to P450,000.

“However, we do encourage our clients to keep limits low to reduce risk, and only increase the limits for specific high-ticket transactions, and subsequently reducing them back to a lower level to keep their accounts well-protected,” Krasnov said.

Tonik made its commercial debut to the Philippine market in March, which saw it secured over P1 billion ($20 million) in retail deposits in under one month. The neobank attracted ca. 3.5 billion pesos ($70 million) in retail deposits as of mid-August.

Tonik is supervised by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and deposits are insured by the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation (PDIC). Its unique cloud-based solution is powered by global financial technology leaders such as Mastercard, Amazon Web Services, and Finastra.