GCash, the mobile wallet of Globe Telecom, has disbursed over P2.5 billion in cash loans in 10 months since the launch of GLoan, reflecting the significant demand for affordable and fair lending rates among Filipinos.
“We want to make lending more accessible to consumers to prevent them from becoming victims of informal lenders who usually charge predatory rates. We want Filipinos, especially the unbanked, to have access to funds whenever they need it,” said GCash president and chief executive Martha Sazon.
GLoan, which offers low and easy payment schemes, allows pre-qualified users to take loans from P1,000 to P50,000. The amount is payable in five, nine or 12 months, with no other requirements needed. GLoan uses the in-house trust platform GScore to check a borrower’s ability to pay.
Meanwhile, GCash’s “buy now, pay later” proposition GGives disbursed P345 million from December 2021 to May 2022, with 85,000 merchants since it introduced its accessible installment offer.
A popular financing option among Filipinos, “buy now, pay later” allows consumers to make immediate purchases without cash or credit card.
GLoan and GGives are among the priority businesses of GCash. The mobile wallet partially deployed the $300-million funding it secured late last year to grow lending operations, improve the platform and further scale the business.
“We have not fully deployed the capital raised, and we plan to do so by further investing in our lending initiatives, our wealth management aspirations and the digital ecosystem in rural areas in the country,” Sazon said.
About 83 percent of the Philippines’ adult population, or 60 million Filipinos, are now placing their trust in GCash. Its merchant and social seller base grew to 5 million, or 2.7 times higher than the first quarter of 2021, making GCash the largest cashless ecosystem in the Philippines.
GCash is a portfolio company under 917Ventures, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Globe.