The country’s first licensed digital-only bank is putting point-of-sale loans inside one of the Philippines’ three biggest household appliance chains, with Tonik financing set to reach 170 EMCOR stores outside Luzon in 2027.
Key Takeaways
- Tonik Digital Bank and Davao-based retailer EMCOR are scaling Tonik’s Shop Installment Loan from a 20-store pilot to 170 stores in 2027.
- Tonik says its loan portfolio reached $118 million as of September 2026, with an annualized revenue run-rate above $69 million.
- That loan book stood at $83 million in December 2025, according to e27, which puts company-reported growth at roughly 42% in under a year.
- Shoppers pick appliances, gadgets, and other goods in-store, then apply and pay in installments through the Tonik app, subject to credit approval.
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Tonik Digital Bank has signed up EMCOR, the Davao-born retailer of appliances, motorcycles, furniture, and IT products, to offer its Shop Installment Loan at the checkout counter.
The Tonik EMCOR installment loan program started as a pilot in 20 stores. Both companies say it will grow to 170 stores in 2027, covering most of a chain that EMCOR says counts 177 branches across Mindanao, the Visayas, and Palawan.
Customers choose a product, apply through the Tonik app, and pay in monthly installments if approved. Tonik runs the credit check with its own scoring model, while EMCOR supplies the stores and the foot traffic.
Tonik says it is keeping its financing rates competitive even as supply chain and logistics costs push retail prices up. It did not publish those rates, the available loan terms, or any down payment requirement.
Why Visayas and Mindanao matter for the Tonik EMCOR installment loan
EMCOR began in 1958 as Engineering and Machinery Corporation, a Davao City dealer of International Harvester equipment serving Mindanao’s logging industry, according to parent company J-Del Investments and Management Corp.
The company says it shifted to retailing and financing Kawasaki motorcycles in 1976, starting at its Bajada store in Davao City, and added home appliances in 1979.
That history makes EMCOR one of the few national-scale retailers built from the south outward. The company says it ranks among the country’s top three household appliance retailers and placed No. 345 in BusinessWorld’s Top 1,000 Corporations for 2025.
For an app-only bank based in Manila, those stores reach customers that bank branches tend to miss. A Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) consumer finance survey found household ownership of financial assets lowest in Mindanao at 38.4%, against 69.4% in Metro Manila, Philstar reported.
Nationally, the BSP’s 2021 Financial Inclusion Survey put account ownership at 56% of Filipino adults. Only 23% held a bank account, with e-money wallets driving most of the jump, GMA News reported.
Tonik is not alone at the EMCOR counter
Tonik is walking into a store floor that rival lenders already work. Fintech lender Salmon added more than 100 EMCOR stores in the Visayas and Mindanao in August 2026, advertising product loans of up to six months at zero percent interest with no down payment, subject to terms, according to Daily Tribune.
Skyro, another digital lender, expanded its EMCOR partnership for online product loans in Davao as early as January 2025, The Philippine Business and News reported.
Point-of-sale financing, where a shopper borrows at the cashier and splits a purchase into monthly payments, has turned into a key battleground for these lenders because the store handles customer acquisition. Tonik says its network already spans more than 500 retail partners and nearly 400 employers, Entrepreneur reported.
What Tonik’s Shop Installment Loan does at the checkout
The Shop Installment Loan is a merchant installment product, one of three lending lines Tonik relies on alongside salary-deduction loans for employees of partner companies and digital personal loans, according to DealStreetAsia.
Tonik credits AI-driven underwriting for keeping credit costs in check. Its BSP digital bank license also lets it fund loans from retail deposits, which the bank describes as a funding edge over non-bank lenders, DealStreetAsia reported.
For shoppers, the pitch is convenience. There is no separate trip to a lending office, and the loan sits in the same app as a Tonik savings account or time deposit.
The bank also offers payroll-linked loans, digital cash loans, fund transfers, and payment services under its BSP license.
From a $131M Series B to breakeven
Tonik was founded by Ukrainian-born entrepreneur Greg Krasnov and began commercial operations in 2021 as one of six BSP-licensed digital banks, BusinessWorld reported. Singapore-based Tonik Financial holds a 60% stake in the bank.
Tonik raised a $131 million Series B led by Japan’s Mizuho Bank in 2022, then a $12 million pre-Series C led by Diligent Capital Partners in December 2025. In May 2026, it said it reached breakeven in the first quarter, and DealStreetAsia later reported that K2 Investments had joined as Tonik weighs a possible public listing.
The company must now show that EMCOR shoppers will pick Tonik over a zero-interest Salmon offer in the same aisle. Tonik has not released pilot results, approval rates, or default figures, and the $118 million loan book and $69 million run-rate are company-supplied numbers that have not been independently verified.
If the rollout holds, a bank with no branches will have a loan desk in 170 stores from Palawan to Davao, riding a retail network that started by selling logging equipment in Mindanao.
FAQ
What is Tonik Shop Installment Loan? It is Tonik Digital Bank’s point-of-sale loan. Shoppers at partner stores such as EMCOR pick a product, apply in the Tonik app, and pay in installments, subject to credit approval.
How to apply for Tonik installment loan at EMCOR? Choose your item at a participating EMCOR store, then apply through the Tonik app. Approval depends on Tonik’s credit assessment. Tonik has not published the rates or terms.
Is Tonik a legit bank in the Philippines? Yes. Tonik Digital Bank is licensed and regulated by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and was the country’s first licensed digital-only bank. It began commercial operations in 2021.
What is still unknown about the Tonik EMCOR deal? Tonik has not disclosed interest rates, loan terms, down payment rules, or results from the 20-store pilot. It also has not named which of EMCOR’s 177 stores will join the 2027 expansion.
