170K
messages in less than 30 minutes
200K
sent messages to customers
The Challenge: Finding a scalable, omnichannel, and collaborative SMS solution
In the Philippines, over 70% of the population remains unbanked. The underserved population, many of whom are young, tech-literate people, do not have access to financial products and services because of tedious onboarding processes and low interest rates with traditional banks. This prompted Tonik to provide Filipinos with a better choice: a digital-only bank that helps them to save with just a click of a button.
Tonik provides retail financial products including deposits, loans, savings accounts, payments, and cards on a highly secure digital banking platform. Within only a month of going live, the neobank has secured over Php1B (US$20M) in retail deposits, a historic record for any new bank launching in the Philippines. Rapidly expanding, Tonik plans to tap more than 7600 islands in the Philippines, which is why they needed a communications solution that could efficiently reach all their customers. With the help of 8×8 SMS API, Tonik ensures that every Filipino has easy access to financial services and is able to conveniently manage and grow their money, thereby improving their financial lives.
The Solution: 8×8: agile, responsive, and cost-efficient
Since a majority of Filipinos can be reached via SMS, it was only natural that Tonik relied on SMS as the main communication channel. The next step was to decide on a solution that could help to support the Tonik customer acquisition strategy.
There were three main requirements that Tonik looked for in an SMS service provider. One, it needed to be an automated, scalable and reliable cloud- based system in order to be able to support Tonik’s rapid growth. It also had to be an omnichannel, multi-country solution that could be easily extended to all their supported countries. Lastly, Tonik wanted a collaborative partnership with an SMS provider who had market expertise and could provide expert insights.
It was not easy to find a provider that could fulfill all three criteria, but fortunately 8×8 was a perfect fit.
After having evaluated other messaging providers in the market, the Tonik team ultimately chose 8×8 as a partner because of its agility in problem solving, strong customer support, and cost efficiency. Furthermore, 8×8’s market and industry expertise enabled the Tonik team to be extremely customer-centric in their approach, which gave them an edge over other fintech players in the industry.
“What made us choose 8×8 as a partner is their exceptional management support, agility on issue fixes, and cost efficiency,” said Arivuvel Ramu, Group CTO at Tonik.
Tonik now sends messages to 200,000 customers located across the country using 8×8 SMS APIs for payment reminders, notifications of successful transfers, One-Time Passwords (OTPs) for onboarding and payments, and promotional campaigns. The integration process was seamless and effortless, taking less than a week to implement and scale. Tonik was also pleased with the 8×8 customer support team’s responsiveness and technical knowledge, which meant any issues were fixed quickly and efficiently.
The Benefits: 8×8 SMS APIs delivers reliability and customer loyalty
As a digital bank, security is vital to Tonik. As such, sending OTPs is extremely crucial to strengthen user authentication and secure the accounts and transactions of all users. With 8×8 SMS APIs, Tonik could send faster, more secure, and highly reliable OTPs to users. Tonik delivers 170k messages in less than 30 minutes, with a 95% deliverability rate.
By consistently delivering time-sensitive messages regardless of volume, 8×8 could increase the onboarding and conversation rates of new users. Sending OTPs and timely notifications when customers are making payments has also helped Tonik to increase customer trust, in turn boosting customer loyalty.
Tonik is also using 8×8 SMS APIs for its promotional campaigns, automating the bulk sending of marketing promotions and updates, as well as targeted and personalized discounts.
With 8×8’s solution providing increased automation and reliable deliverability, Tonik could boost its productivity with minimal effort, scaling its growth with a peace of mind.
Providing a simple, accessible, and highly secure banking experience with 8×8
With 8×8 SMS APIs, Tonik was able to scale effortlessly, accelerating financial inclusion to more Filipinos. With the support of 8×8, Tonik is confident to continue empowering underserved Filipinos with a banking experience that is simple, accessible, and highly secure.