Insider Spotlight
The facility marks ADB’s first fintech-focused partnership of this kind in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) region, underscoring the multilateral lender’s growing bet on digital platforms to address persistent financing gaps for small businesses.
Speaking at a partnership event with entrepreneurs, Christine Engstrom, director general of ADB, said the collaboration reflects a shared push to support the country’s economic backbone.
“It reflects a shared commitment to expanding inclusive economic opportunities, particularly for the MSMEs here in the Philippines, and you are the backbone of the economy here,” Engstrom said.
“We know that you comprise about 99 percent of all businesses. It's probably one of the highest in Asia. But yet, from some of the studies that we have done in ADB, we know that you receive only 3.9 percent of total bank loans. That's very small.”
Why it matters
Despite their dominance in the business landscape, MSMEs continue to face limited access to formal financing, especially in provincial and remote areas.
ADB sees the GCash Fuse model as a way to channel capital more efficiently by bypassing traditional barriers such as collateral, paperwork, and physical bank access.
“Platforms like GCash and Fuse Lending have already demonstrated how digital finance services can expand across and provide access to MSMEs with unsecured loans, including in the remote areas of the Philippines,” Engstrom said.
ADB will also provide up to $125,000 in technical assistance to help Fuse Financing develop tailored financial products and deliver financial and digital literacy training for women, especially those with limited formal education.
Complementing ADB’s financing, the Mastercard Impact Fund, with support from the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth, provided a $150,000 performance-based grant to help expand credit access for women-owned and women-led businesses while strengthening Fuse’s ability to reach priority MSME segments.
How it works
GCash’s nationwide user base generates transaction data that feeds into Fuse Financing’s lending decisions, allowing loans to be approved digitally and at scale.
“GCash has really played a transformative role in accelerating digital payments and financial inclusion nationwide, supporting everyday transactions for consumers and micro-entrepreneurs alike,” Engstrom said.
“Fuse Lending, in turn, has built on this ecosystem by developing a proprietary credit scoring system, GScore, which really helps to deliver responsible, data-driven credit solutions that are really tailored to the realities of the MSMEs, and particularly those that have been traditionally excluded from bank finance,” she added.
What they’re saying
Fuse Financing president and CEO Tony Isidro said during the launch on Feb. 6, 2026, that the P1.75-billion facility strengthens the company’s ability to deliver fast and accessible credit.
“With GCash and Fuse, MSMEs can apply for loans quickly and easily using our proprietary trusting score we call GScore,” Isidro said.
“Creditworthiness is evaluated based on digital behavior like activity and payment history without the need for documents or collateral. The fully digital process reduces time and friction, delivering a faster, more transparent loan experience tailored for entrepreneurs.”
Martha Sazon, president and CEO of Mynt, said the partnership aligns development finance with private-sector scale.
“We value our partnership with ADB as it strengthens our ability to expand access to credit for MSMEs and women entrepreneurs, who are underserved by the market,” Sazon said.
“By combining our shared expertise and digital reach, we are advancing financial inclusion and helping more Filipinos grow their businesses.”
The big picture
Engstrom said the collaboration goes beyond lending. “Together, they are helping to formalize economic activity, improve financial resilience, and then enable small businesses to participate more fully in the digital economy,” she said. —Vanessa Hidalgo | Ed: Corrie S. Narisma
