GCash Parent CEO Says Firm Is ‘Ripe’ to Go Public

Philippines-based mobile wallet provider GCash is reportedly ready to go public.

“We’re pretty much ripe for it,” Ernest Cu, president and CEO of GCash parent Globe Telecom, said in an interview with Bloomberg Television Thursday (June 8), referring to the company’s plan for an initial public offering (IPO). “The growth is there, the profitability has been there for almost two years now. The plan is to be push-button ready by the end of the year. Let’s see where it takes us.”

PYMNTS has reached out to GCash for comment but has not yet received a reply.

GCash, which offers cryptocurrency, savings, insurance and investment services, had more than 76 million users as of the end of last year’s fourth quarter, according to the report.

The company saw its fortunes blossom during the pandemic as cashless transactions became the norm for online shopping and bill pay.

The cashless trend has continued beyond the age of COVID, as PYMNTS research shows fewer consumers carrying cash. The share of consumers in the U.S. who use cash has been declining steadily in the past five years, from 94% in 2018 to 84% in 2020 to 81% in April.

At the same time, mobile wallet use is up. Sixty percent of consumers paid bills via this method in the last 12 months.

“Among more affluent consumers, who tend to be early adopters, bill pay via mobile wallet increased from 55% to 68% during the same period,” PYMNTS wrote this month. “Millennials, who tend to be comfortable using newer technologies, are the most responsible for pushing mobile wallet bill pay use into the mainstream.”

News of GCash’s IPO plans come weeks after reports that the company had fended off an attack by hackers.

The company said several of its customers had noticed unauthorized deductions occur within their accounts, while also having issues accessing the service for hours. Hackers had also attempted to get away with 37 million pesos (about $664,000) from accounts at two unnamed banks.

GCash said it had “adjusted” the affected accounts, meaning that no one lost money.