GCash Seeks IPO When Market Conditions Improve

Philippines-based mobile payments provider GCash wants to go public, when the time is right.

“We recognize that the new round of investments further strengthens Mynt’s ability and position coming into an IPO,” Martha Sazon, CEO of GCash parent Globe Fintech Innovations/Mynt, told reporters Wednesday (Aug. 7).

An initial public offering (IPO) by Globe “could attract interest from all types of investors wherever stock exchange we list it,” added Sazon, whose comments were reported by Bloomberg News.

“However, our view on the timing of the IPO remains the same. That is, it’s subject to improvements in market condition.”

Sazon was addressing the media as her company’s parent, Globe Telecom, reported its quarterly earnings, and days after Mynt’s valuation more than doubled to $5 billion following investments from Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group and Ayala.

The CEO also noted that Globe Telecom has been using GCash to bolster its lending business, with 6 million merchants now using its payments services. The company has said that 94 million people in the Philippines — about 78% of the country’s population — had tried its digital wallet.

Globe Telecom President and CEO Ernest Cu told Bloomberg in June that the company was ready to go public.

“We’re pretty much ripe for it,” said Cu in reference to the company’s plan for an IPO. “The growth is there, the profitability has been there for almost two years now. The plan is to be push-button ready by the end of the year. Let’s see where it takes us.”

The company’s plans come amid continued growth in the use of digital wallets. For example, this payment method is the fastest growing one in the U.S., particularly among younger consumers, with most Americans saying they use digital wallets more often than traditional payment methods.

Consumers who use this payment method tend to spend more than non-users. And a new Worldpay report says digital wallets will surpass debit cards in transaction value in North America for in-store payments by 2027.

“Digital wallets’ popularity and payment values make them a priority tool for businesses to incorporate into their payment suites,” PYMNTS wrote last month.

“However, merchants have some catching up to do to keep pace with this unstoppable trend. Some notable stumbling blocks — including perceptions about security, complexity and legacy technology — are still holding many back.”