Mongolian bank’s youth-first model offers lessons for Philippine banks

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Golomt Bank, one of Mongolia’s five largest banks, has enrolled more than 270,000 customers aged 0 to 22 in a youth loyalty program — roughly one in six Mongolians under 22 — under a strategy its leadership says could inform how banks in the Philippines and the rest of Southeast Asia draw young people into the formal financial system.

The bank serves a nation of 3.5 million people and has built products and programs aimed at customers before they turn 22, an approach it frames as long-term infrastructure rather than ordinary customer acquisition.

Golomt Bank Chief Executive Officer Odonbaatar Amarzaya said the goal is “to be a truly family-friendly bank, serving every member of the household while thoughtfully preparing for our future customers.”

Central to the strategy is the “Newborn” campaign, which Golomt Bank launched in 2022 with maternity hospitals in Ulaanbaatar and provincial towns.

Through the campaign, newborns receive “Ur Mine” baby clothing and an Altantulkhuur children’s savings certificate, each of which initially carried a deposit of MNT 10,000.

The bank said it has supported more than 16,000 children over the past four years.

Starting this year, Golomt Bank is working to issue MNT 100,000 savings certificates to 20,000 newborns annually through 23 maternity hospitals. As of 2026, about 7,000 certificates have been issued and 2,100 Altantulkhuur savings accounts have been opened.

About 85% of the savings accounts created under the campaign remain active, the bank said.

Amarzaya said the program “is not designed for direct financial gain” but is instead “part of our broader social responsibility commitment to support newborns and mothers, encourage early savings behavior, and instill healthy financial habits from the very beginning of life.”

The Altantulkhuur product carries an annual interest rate of 12.8%, which the bank said is higher than many standard savings products in the market.

Golomt Bank also runs a Student Scholarship Program, which it started in 2003 as what it says was the first such initiative by a private-sector organization in Mongolia.

The program has awarded scholarships to more than 2,000 students, with total funding exceeding MNT 1.5 billion, the bank said, and each recipient receives MNT 2 million toward tuition and related expenses.

About 40 scholarship recipients have since joined the bank as full-time employees. Golomt Bank has more than 2,800 employees, about 35% of them from Gen Z.

The Gen Z loyalty program, which drew more than 270,000 customers aged 0 to 22, introduced products such as The Color Card and the SocialPay Junior app, which lets children track income and expenses.

During the program, 110 winners were selected through prize draws, with the grand prize winner receiving a trip to Hong Kong and tickets to the MAMA Awards 2025.

Beyond financial products, Golomt Bank in 2022 launched an archaeological project, “The Genesis of Heritage and Culture,” in partnership with the Institute of Archaeology of the Mongolian Academy of Sciences.

Now in its fifth consecutive year, the project has uncovered more than 3,000 artifacts, and the bank says it is the first private-sector investment in Mongolian archaeology.

Excavations at the Tuulyn Khar Tüne Ord site suggest the structure is more likely a Buddhist religious complex from the early 17th century rather than the previously assumed palace of Wang Khan.

An anthropomorphic stone statue at Inget Tolgoi in Bulgan Province, once believed to date to the Khitan period, has been reidentified as an early Buddhist-related monument from the Rouran period.

Amarzaya linked the cultural work to customer trust. “A bank cannot exist without its customers, and their trust is our most valuable asset,” he said.

Mongolia is a young, tech-driven market with a birth rate of about 2.5 and more than 4 million smartphones in circulation.

The bank said it now meets nearly 99% of basic banking needs through digital channels. Golomt Bank ranks among the country’s five largest banks, with a market share of about 20%.

About 60,000 babies are born in Mongolia each year, according to the National Statistics Office of Mongolia.

The bank is presenting its model as relevant to Southeast Asia, where Indonesia, Vietnam, and the Philippines together have more than 200 million young people.

Amarzaya said the bank’s technology and business model are built on baselines drawn from several countries, including markets similar to the Philippines, making them adaptable to different regulations and customer needs.

He also pointed to education partnerships. Golomt Bank is working with AI Academy Asia on a program running from 2025 to 2030 that aims to build a national pool of 2,500 AI professionals. From 3,998 applicants across 21 provinces, 330 districts, and the capital, 500 teachers were selected for a three-month AI training course.

Amarzaya said the bank measures success in broad terms. “We believe that our success should be measured by the extent to which we improve the quality of life for Mongolians,” he said.

He added that Golomt Bank “is not only a financial institution, but also an example of how a modern banking ecosystem can be built and scaled in a developing market.”