DIVERSIFICATION into more financial products could drive further growth for Mynt Inc., operator of e-wallet GCash, as it prepares for a planned P92.32-billion initial public offering (IPO).
GCash remained in the early stages of its development and could expand its financial services by leveraging its large user base and existing digital ecosystem, Reyes Tacandong & Co. senior adviser Jonathan Ravelas told reporters on Wednesday.
“They’re already a wallet, very generic. The only thing that they need to do is add more products to sell. Because they already have the ecosystem,” he added.
“Right now, GCash appears to be the financial supermarket. The more people understand what it is to invest, receive passive income, definitely people will start using GCash, so more transactions.”
Mynt was said to be in the final stages of regulatory preparations for its planned IPO, which involves up to 9.23 billion common shares at an indicative price of up to P10 each.
The offering consists of an initial tranche of about 8.03 billion primary shares and up to 1.2 billion secondary shares under an oversubscription option, based on the company’s regulatory filing.
Proceeds from the primary offering are intended to support Mynt’s continued business expansion and development of digital financial products.
Ravelas noted that Mynt’s existing platform provides an opportunity to broaden access to financial services, particularly among Filipinos who remain underserved by traditional banking channels.
“The digital landscape is an undiscovered country that offers great potential,” he said.
He also described the planned listing as a potential milestone for Philippine capital markets, as it would give investors an opportunity to participate in the growth of a large digital financial platform.
If completed, Mynt is expected to become the country’s first listed fintech company.
Its planned IPO also comes as the Philippine Stock Exchange has faced a relatively weak pipeline of new listings and a series of delistings, putting greater attention on large offerings such as Mynt’s.
Ravelas, however, said investors should look beyond the IPO’s maximum indicative price and assess the valuation ultimately established through the bookbuilding process.
“The P10 is a ceiling, not a promise, and certainly not a measure of whether the IPO succeeds or fails. Price discovery is precisely what bookbuilding is for. The market will tell you where demand is, what valuation investors are prepared to accept, and ultimately where the appropriate clearing price should be,” he added.
Mynt’s offer would represent about 12 percent to 13.8 percent of its post-IPO shares, with existing shareholders retaining about 88 percent after the base offer or about 86.2 percent if the over-allotment option is fully exercised.
The primary shares would raise fresh capital for Mynt, while the secondary shares would allow existing shareholders to sell part of their holdings.
For his part, Scam Watch Pilipinas Co-Founder Jocel De Guzman said the company’s growing scale also raised the need for stronger consumer protection as digital financial transactions increase.
“Scale brings opportunity, but it also brings responsibility. The more people rely on a digital platform for their everyday financial needs, the more important it becomes to make safety and consumer protection part of the platform’s design — not something that is addressed only after fraud happens,” she said.
