Globe: Online gaming restrictions will not derail GCash from growth trajectory
Carl R. Cruz, Globe Telecom, President and CEO
Globe Telecom Inc. is confident that the recent moves by regulators to lessen the involvement of e-wallets in online gaming will not affect the growth trajectory of its GCash business, which has a diversified revenue stream.
In an interview on Monday, Aug. 18, Globe Telecom President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Carl Cruz said that, as of last Saturday evening, GCash has already removed links to online gaming sites from its app, as directed by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).
This, and even proposals to limit the ability of players to load their online gaming accounts using e-wallets such as GCash, will not derail the company’s growth, he said.
“The good thing with GCash is its revenue stream is highly diversified. And, you know, despite the regulatory requirement to delink e-wallets from online gaming, the growth story and trajectory of GCash will definitely continue,” Cruz noted.
Meanwhile, Cruz also said that GCash, or its parent company Mynt, has not yet submitted an application to undertake an initial public offering (IPO), but “the whole organization of GCash continues to prepare for its next phase of growth and, whether or not that will include an IPO, it will happen when it happens.”
While declining to comment on whether regulatory moves to distance e-wallets from online gaming will have a substantial impact on revenues, he pointed out that GCash revenues are not “reliant on this particular segment.”
However, Unicapital Securities Research Analyst Peter Louise Garnace said that “banning online gambling on e-wallets will have an impact on GCash and Maya since these platforms indirectly earn from the top-up of funds to online gambling platforms.”
“As to the magnitude of impact, there is no quantifiable data yet given GCash and Maya do not disclose channel-level transaction split. But, given their ubiquity, e-wallets have become entryways for online gambling platforms to reach a broader user base,” he added.
Abacus Securities Corp. said PLDT Inc. Chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan said earlier that e-gaming accounted for about 10 to 20 percent of the gross transaction value of Maya.
“Given that fintech plays second fiddle, GCash probably has a higher percentage of its gross transaction value tied to e-gaming,” it noted.