Ernest Cu, president and CEO of parent company Globe Telecom, forecasts continued growth for GCash, now the country’s fourth-largest financial institution, driven by both local and international expansion.
“Imagine, this little child of ours, who occupied a small number of square meters in the GlobeTower, its valuation is now close to the mother company,” Cu said during GCash’s 20th anniversary gala on Thursday.
“Given the growth potential of where this is going to be, it could be very well one day that our fintech business be larger in market cap than our telco business,” he added.
GCash attained its latest valuation of $5 billion (P278.3 billion) after Japanese financial giant Mitsubishi UFJ Financial purchased an $800 million stake in the company.
This prices GCash at about 80 percent of Globe’s market value of P345.1 billion, based on Thursday’s closing price.
GCash enters China market
One significant development announced during the anniversary event was the company’s recent expansion in China.
“I can tell you GCash works with any Alipay merchant in China,” said Cu.
This vast market of hundreds of millions of merchants can now accept GCash payments, opening up significant growth opportunities for the platform, he said.
Global expansion is key to future growth
GCash, which saw rapid growth among the unbanked population in the Philippines, is approaching full market penetration with 94 million users. To sustain its growth, the platform will need to explore new markets.
“What’s next for GCash? It’s the international market,” Martha Sazon, GCash CEO, told InsiderPH during the event.
IPO next?
Cu said an IPO remains on the table but there was no definitive timing to launch a listing for GCash, which is a profitable business.
But Cu said they were “less likely” to list in the United States as he preferred an IPO on the Philippine Stock Exchange.
“It’s too much work,” he said. “We’re the Philippines’ [financial] champion.”
Miguel R. Camus has been a reporter covering various domestic business topics since 2009.
