TONIK
Greg Krasnov , CEO and founder of Tonik , describes the journey that ’ s created one of Asia ’ s most successful digital banks
Greg Krasnov is no stranger to entrepreneurship . Indeed , the CEO and founder of Tonik has more than 20 years of experience in the field of consumer finance and originally entered the marketplace as a private equity manager working in Europe .
Today , he heads Tonik , an all-digital bank that was launched in the Philippines in 2021 , notable for being the first of its kind - also referred to as a ‘ neobank ’ in Southeast Asia . Its consumer products range from deposits and payments to debit cards and loans .
Krasnov takes up the story of his journey : “ In the early nineties , I was doing consumer finance deals in Central Europe for the private equity funds that I was working for . It was Poland , Czech Republic , Hungary , Romania . They were all spiking on the middle class development , and that led to a really rapid evolution of retail banking , especially consumer finance . So , that was when I first experienced the sector . I then proceeded to build and sell one of the largest consumer finance banks in Ukraine called Platinum Bank . We became a number three consumer lender in the country . You know , sold it to a local group in 2013 , and was backed by international private equity funds and IFC .”
The move proved to be a canny one as it resulted in Krasnov moving to Asia , where he discovered fintech , launched a couple of startups , and moved into banking .
178 May 2022