Mobile wallet GCash has registered 66 million users as of mid-2022 because the company "chose to collaborate rather than compete" president and CEO Martha Sazon told a recent Mobile 360 Asia Pacific FinTech Summit.
Collaborations with banks and other fintech providers helped GCash grow during the pandemic and add six million users from the first quarter of this year to 66 million at the end of the second quarter, she pointed out.
“We’re not a digital bank. We are an e-wallet. But what’s good about that is we’re able to partner with any bank and any financial institution," Sazon explained.
"This is a conscious thought that we make because we know that financial inclusion is a complex, difficult journey. So, we choose to collaborate rather than compete,” she reiterated.
GCash has partnered with BPI, ATRAM and CIMB, as well as various government agencies, insurance, and fintech companies -- to address the population’s need for more accessible financial services.
The local e-wallet also teamed up with Ant Group Financial, allowing the app to access global platforms to scale up rapidly and ensure user security.
In addition, GCash became a key partner of the government for the Department of Social Welfare’s Social Amelioration Program (SAP) to disburse over P16 billion to more than 2 million recipients.
To empower micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), GCash partnered with insurance providers to offer business insurance products.
Furthermore, to democratize financial services, the e-wallet added strategic collaborators for its products such as Send Money, Pay Bills, Cash-in, Cash-out, GInsure, GLoan, GInvest, GGives and GCredit.
“The people we need to include are the masses," Sazon underscored.
"We are talking about riders, tricycle drivers, sari-sari stores, and even market store vendors. This is very important because these are the very people who comprise our MSME industry.”