GCash sees lending as driver for future growth

Mobile wallet GCash is expecting its lending and wealth management businesses driving its revenues in the next five years as it aims to bridge the financial inclusion gap in the country.

"About 50% of Filipinos remain unbanked. Another statistic that I'd like to share with you is that 40% of Filipinos are still relying on informal lending… we would like to include these Filipinos, for them to have a fair chance in getting access to lending," GCash head of Capital Markets and Investor Relations Joseph Tang said at a press briefing in Taguig City.

GCash parent Mynt debuted on the Philippine Stock Exchange, raising over P60 billion post initial public offering (IPO)—the largest in the local bourse's history—with a market capitalization of P441.5 billion.

Post-IPO, Tang said digital financial services, namely lending and wealth management, will be at par with its payments solutions business in terms of revenue contribution in the next five years.

"Our payment solutions business is still the biggest contributor. So that's about 57% of total revenues coming from the payment solutions business, and then 43% were coming from the digital financial services… that would of course include Fuse Financing [lending] and of course WealthTech [wealth management]," Tang said.

"The goal for us is to really see the digital financial services together with payment solutions business to contribute equally in the medium term," he added.

Meanwhile, over 140,000 GCash users participated in Mynt's IPO through its GStocks PH in-app feature, generating nearly P1.1 billion in order value.

To ensure widespread and equitable retail access, GStocks provided entry at a minimum board lot of just 100 shares at P660 or with individual orders capped at 1,500 shares per user during the offer period to accommodate as many retail investors as possible.

"Today marks a defining milestone for Mynt and the beginning of our next chapter as a public company. We have built GCash into a scaled and profitable business by solving everyday financial needs for Filipinos, and we believe the opportunity ahead remains significant. We are grateful for the trust of our customers, partners, employees and new shareholders. Our focus now is on deepening engagement across the GCash ecosystem, investing in technology-enabled growth, and translating our scale into sustainable value creation," said Martha Sazon, president and CEO of Mynt. — VDV, GMA News