GCash debuts AI-powered Pera Coach to boost literacy at scale

Insider Spotlight

• GCash has launched Pera Coach, which it says is the Philippines’ first AI-powered financial coach embedded in an e-wallet.
• The feature was developed with support from Microsoft and can converse in English, Tagalog, Cebuano, and Hiligaynon.
• GCash is positioning the tool as a way to close financial literacy gaps that continue to limit the use of savings, insurance, and investment products.
  
  

GCash is rolling out Pera Coach, an artificial intelligence-powered financial coach built into its app, as the fintech giant pushes deeper into financial education and inclusion for Filipinos.

The new feature, developed with support from Microsoft and powered by enterprise-grade AI, responds to prompts around financial goals, budgeting, and risk appetite. 

It is designed to deliver personalized guidance in multiple languages, including English, Tagalog, Cebuano, and Hiligaynon.

Why it matters

The launch targets a longstanding weakness in the Philippines’ financial inclusion drive. While access to financial services has improved, broader adoption of products such as insurance and investments remains constrained by low financial literacy.

GCash cited a 2021 Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas survey showing that just 2 percent of Filipino adults correctly answered six basic financial literacy questions.

That gap has created an opening for digital platforms that can simplify financial concepts and make guidance more widely available inside apps consumers already use.

What they’re saying

“Financial literacy should not feel intimidating or out of reach,” said Winsley Bangit, group head of new business at Mynt, the parent company of GCash. 

“With Pera Coach integrated directly into the GCash ecosystem, Filipinos can receive real-time guidance that’s practical, contextual, and easy to understand, helping them make more confident financial decisions.”

“Even everyday moments like deciding how much to set aside for a weekly budget, comparing different savings accounts, or choosing a potential stock, can shape long-term outcomes, and we want to support users through those moments,” he added.

The bigger picture

For GCash, the feature also signals a broader strategy to use AI to tackle everyday financial pain points, particularly among underserved users.

“We firmly believe innovation should go beyond adopting the latest technology. Rather, the true value of innovation is measured by the impact it has on the lives of everyday Filipinos, especially the underserved,” Bangit continued.

Microsoft framed the partnership as an inclusion play as much as a technology deployment.

"Millions of Filipinos already carry a financial platform in their pockets, but only one in four is financially literate. We've made real progress in financial access, but access without understanding isn’t inclusion—it’s an empowerment gap. And closing that gap is nation building," said Microsoft Philippines country general manager Jonathan Que. —Ramon C. Nocon | Ed: Corrie S. Narisma