Philippines' Digital Financial Inclusion Highlighted at UN; GCash CEO Shares Success

The Philippines’ digital financial inclusion experience was brought to the global stage Wednesday as Mynt president and CEO Martha Sazon addressed the UN Global Compact Leaders Summit in New York. Sazon delivered the keynote “Rethinking Credit: From Invisible to Empowered” during the plenary session on “Capital and Markets as System Levers” at the UN Global Compact Leaders Summit, where global business and financial leaders examined how capital can be used to build more inclusive markets. She highlighted the rise in formal financial account ownership from 29% before the pandemic to 50% of Filipino adults, while GCash has extended credit access to more than 11 million borrowers, largely from underserved communities. The Mynt head said the Philippines, despite its large and young population, has historically had a significant portion of Filipinos outside the formal financial system, with formal borrowing penetration at only 12%, among the lowest levels in Southeast Asia. She said the credit gap is particularly significant for Filipinos who lack the documentation or collateral traditionally required by financial institutions, leaving many dependent on informal sources of financing when faced with medical expenses, tuition, household bills and other urgent needs. Sazon cited data showing that 40% of Filipinos borrow from informal lenders, with borrowers often turning to family, friends or, when these options are unavailable, loan sharks and predatory online lenders. She said the growth of digital finance provides an opportunity to address this gap by making financial services more accessible and relevant to ordinary Filipinos, noting that mobile wallets have contributed significantly to the expansion of formal financial account ownership. She said that at the heart of GCash’s approach is GScore, its proprietary AI-powered credit scoring system that uses customers’ digital financial behavior to help assess creditworthiness, providing an alternative to conventional credit assessment based heavily on collateral and other traditional requirements. Sazon said eligible customers with a good GScore can be pre-approved for loans without additional requirements, allowing GCash to offer what she described as right-sized credit based on how Filipinos actually live and manage their finances. She illustrated the impact through the story of Atty. Sheila, who turned to GCash for a loan to finance her bar review after falling short in her first attempt at the bar examination and eventually passed. For Sazon, the loan represented not simply another financial transaction but another opportunity to pursue a personal goal. Sazon also pointed to smaller, everyday financial needs, saying GCash offers “sachet-sized” loans of as little as ₱100, which can help cover basic necessities or short-term expenses during the days before payday. She stressed, however, that financial inclusion goes beyond simply providing access to money, saying Filipinos must also be seen, treated fairly and allowed to borrow with dignity. GCash, she said, has extended this approach to more than 11 million borrowers, largely among those at the bottom of the economic pyramid, with women accounting for half of the borrowers. Sazon linked this broader access to the Philippine economy, noting that women play a central role in managing household expenses and that the impact of credit can extend beyond an individual borrower to help sustain households, grow businesses and keep the economy moving. She underscored that the work of financial inclusion remains unfinished, saying GCash would continue innovating to bring more Filipinos into the financial system through lending and other services. “When people are seen, they can be trusted. And when they are trusted, they can be empowered,” Sazon said. She described the broader objective as “Finance for All,” with the ultimate goal of transforming the nation “one Filipino, one story at a time.” —AOL, GMA News