the Outsider - PSE Points to Ponder

  When Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group bought into Mynt , the parent of GCash, the Japanese banking giant was not merely buying a slice of a Philippine fintech. It was buying a second chance at a familiar thesis: that a well-capitalized Japanese lender can ride the rise of consumer finance in one of Southeast Asia’s most underbanked, mobile-first economies. The price was not small. MUFG’s investment gave it an 8% direct stake in Mynt , valuing the GCash operator at about US$5 billion , more than double Mynt’s previous US$2 billion valuation from its 2021 round. Reports put MUFG’s investment at roughly US$393 million to US$400 million , or about ₱23.3 billion .  The question is whether this GCash bet will age better than MUFG’s earlier Philippine bank wager. In 2016, MUFG, then through The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ , invested ₱36.9 billion in Security Bank Corporation , buying 150.7 million newly issued common shares at ₱245 each and 200 million preferred shares at ₱0.10 ...

  Mynt’s public-market debut is being billed as an IPO. But with far more secondary shares than primary shares on offer, the transaction is also a carefully timed monetization event for the financial investors that backed GCash before it became a Philippine fintech giant. In the language of capital markets, Mynt’s planned listing is an IPO. In substance, it is something more nuanced. The company behind GCash is offering up to 1.605 billion primary shares , but existing shareholders are offering up to 6.422 billion secondary shares , plus an overallotment option of up to 1.204 billion additional secondary shares . At the top-end offer price of ₱10.00 per share , Mynt expects to receive only about ₱14.95 billion in net proceeds from the primary shares, while the selling shareholders could receive up to ₱74.30 billion in net proceeds if the overallotment option is fully exercised. Mynt itself will not receive any proceeds from the secondary or option shares. That makes the “IPO” lab...

The primary share sale will give Mynt nearly ₱15 billion in fresh capital. The message from the prospectus is clear: payments built GCash, but lending, product expansion, liquidity, and optionality are where the next chapter will be funded. Mynt’s planned public listing is not just a liquidity event for its shareholders. It is also a capital-raising exercise for the company behind GCash, though only a smaller portion of the offering will actually land on Mynt’s balance sheet. The preliminary prospectus lays out an offer of up to 1.605 billion Primary Shares to be issued by Mynt, alongside a much larger block of 6.422 billion Secondary Shares to be sold by existing shareholders. At the indicative offer price of up to ₱10.00 per share , Mynt estimates net proceeds from the Primary Shares of up to ₱14.95 billion , after fees and expenses. The company will not receive proceeds from the sale of Secondary Shares or Option Shares.  That distinction matters. The IPO may be marketed as a ...

  GCash’s vast user base, merchant network, and brand ubiquity still form one of the strongest fintech moats in the Philippines. Yet after Payment Solutions' revenue reached ₱50.3 billion in 2025, Q1 2026 showed slowing momentum, exposing the limits of scale in a regulated, low-take-rate payments business. For years, the genius of GCash was that it made money move before it made money itself. A sari-sari store owner could accept a QR code. A daughter in Cebu could receive cash from Manila. A worker could pay a bill, buy load, cash out, send ₱500, or settle dinner without touching a bank branch. Each tiny movement looked mundane. Together, they became one of the biggest pools of transaction value in Philippine finance: ₱17.0 trillion of Payment Solutions GTV in 2025 , up from ₱9.8 trillion in 2023 . That payments machine is still Mynt’s largest business. In 2025, Payment Solutions Adjusted Revenues reached ₱50.3 billion , accounting for 63.2% of Mynt’s total Adjusted Revenues . But ...

  The bank still has the bigger margin. The wallet still owns the daily habit. BPI’s free-transfer gambit shows how Ayala’s two finance champions are starting to collide. Ayala’s financial empire now has two engines that look increasingly alike from a customer’s phone. One is BPI , the old bank: deposit-rich, heavily regulated, and still highly profitable. The other is Mynt , the company behind GCash : younger, faster, and built around the daily habit of payments, transfers, and app-based finance. In the first quarter of 2026, BPI was still clearly the larger profit machine, generating ₱50.9bn in revenue and ₱17.0bn in net income, while Mynt generated ₱20.9bn in revenue and ₱5.6bn in net income. The margin comparison matters. BPI converted about 33.4% of revenue into net income, while Mynt converted about 26.8% . That makes BPI not only larger than GCash’s parent but also more profitable in terms of net income margin.  Yet the strategic pressure is moving in the other dir...

Mynt, the company behind GCash, is showing the power of platform finance: fewer branches, more transactions, and far better profit conversion than two established banks. In 1Q26, it generated more revenue, more than twice the profit, and a much fatter margin than RCBC and Security Bank.   A curious thing happened in Philippine finance in the first quarter of 2026. Two established universal banks, RCBC and Security Bank , each  generated roughly ₱17bn in operating income and about ₱2.7bn in net income. Mynt , the parent company of GCash , reported higher revenue of ₱20.9bn and net income of ₱5.6bn.  The comparison is not perfect. Banks and fintech platforms do different things. RCBC and Security Bank take deposits, make loans, manage capital, absorb credit losses, and operate within a dense regulatory framework. Mynt sits at the heart of the daily financial habits of millions of mobile users. Yet the contrast is revealing. In 1Q26, Mynt was not merely bigger than these tw...

  The GCash parent’s listing would not create cash gains if neither shareholder sells. But it could reveal how much hidden value sits inside Globe and Ayala’s balance sheets. The most interesting asset in Philippine telecoms is no longer a tower, a fiber line, or a slice of spectrum. It is a financial app. Mynt, the company behind GCash, is moving toward a public listing after Globe disclosed that Mynt’s board and shareholders had authorized filings for a potential IPO. The proposed offer is expected to represent about 12% of Mynt’s post-IPO capital , through a mix of primary and secondary shares. Reuters earlier reported that Mynt was seeking a valuation of at least US$8bn , although the final price, timing, and structure remain subject to regulators and market conditions. For Globe Telecom and Ayala Corporation , the IPO is not simply a chance for Mynt to raise capital. It is a moment of revelation. Both companies already own pieces of Mynt. Both already show those stakes somewh...