GCash hopes that at some point, all of its nearly 40 million users will have to answer the question: Will I buy another milk tea cup with my load? Or do I invest it to grow my money?
So far, one third, or roughly 13 million, have chosen to bet their GCash load on insurance and other financial services or keep them as savings at 4% interest that is higher than brick-and-mortar banks, financial data released Friday showed.
GCash has tapped financial advisers for TikTok posts and Instagram stories to preach the importance of saving and investing, the short videos aimed at Gen Z who manage their finances on their smartphones, said Martha Sazon, president and CEO of GCash operator Mynt.
"Instead of buying milk tea, you can invest in a fund and be part" of whichever company as a shareholder, Sazon told reporters in a video call.
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Sazon said she was hopeful that a "tipping point" to GCash for investing would come soon. Financial services on the app is "very promising," she said. Around 3.8 million of the 40 million GCash users keep a combined P7.7 billion on GSave. Another 1.2 million activated their GCredit lines, borrowing P12 billion.
"We are looking to add more services. We're adding more banks. Whether it's in the GSave area or the financial services," Sazon said.
Sazon is looking at improving three areas to encourage more GCash users to save and invest: access, affordability and education. With four in 10 of 100 million Filipinos using the app, access is solved.
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For affordability, Sazon said GCash for one would offer P50 to P1,000 options to invest in an equity fund that holds shares in listed companies. Simply put, GCash users can own part of a company that invests in the stock market. This eliminates much of the guess work on which stocks to pick.
For financial education, that's where the bite-sized videos starring Bo Sanchez and Chinkee Tan come in, Sazon said.
What's next for GCash? Globe Telecom CEO Ernest Cu said that when earnings reach a certain point, to could raise capital via the SPAC route that was taken by Grab. Simply put, GCash wants to grow big enough to attract more investors here and abroad.
SPAC stands for Special Purpose Acquisition Company. That's how tech unicorns like Grab can plan share listings on Wall Street. GCash is a joint venture of Globe Telecom's Mynt and Chinese billionaire Jack Ma's Ant Financial.
"SPAC is part of the options you have to consider, given the Grab-Altimeter merger. Yes, there have been discussions, constant discussions. We dont think its the right time yet," said Cu.
"There has to be the right combination of scale which we have achieved and continue to execute on. Second is revenue. It has to come in," he said.
