MANILA, Philippines – GoTyme Bank’s major shareholders bought out popular salary lender SAVii in a move expected to speed up the digital bank’s rollout of “payroll-enabled financial products.”

In particular, SAVii was acquired by JG Summit and Tyme Group, both of whom are major shareholders of the Gokongwei-backed digital bank.

SAVii, previously called Uploan, is a market-leading salary loan provider in the Philippines. It has a loan book of over P3 billion and serves more than 500,000 employees across 150 companies, including some of the Philippines’ largest corporations.

According to a press release by the digital bank, the buyout “will boost GoTyme’s growth trajectory while expediting its path to profitability.” GoTyme previously told Rappler that it expects to reach profitability by the end of 2025. (READ: GoTyme: How a South African digital bank found a ‘match made in heaven’ in the Gokongweis)

GoTyme intends to build up its lending and payroll services by integrating the credit offerings that SAVii has, allowing it to offer longer-term salary loans at scale.

In April, GoTyme began piloting its earned wage access or EWA service among companies in the Gokongwei Group. While EWA similarly helps employees bridge the financial gap between pay days, it differs from salary loans since it only gives employees access to wages that they’ve already earned. (READ: ‘Payday every day’ may become Shangri-La Group, BPOs’ secret to happy employees)

“This acquisition enables us to drive our strategy of deepening customer relationships by offering payroll
and financial products that benefit both employees and their employers,” Nathaniel Clarke, GoTyme Bank
president and chief executive officer, said.

GoTyme is a joint venture between Tyme Group and members of the Gokongwei Group. As of April 20, the fast-growing digital bank has hit its 3-million customer milestone. – Rappler.com