Tag: financial services

Ayala-Mitsubishi’s P18.4 billion GCash deal closed

Ayala-Mitsubishi’s P18.4 billion GCash deal closed

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After being cleared by the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC), the P18.4 billion deal between Ayala Corporation and Mitsubishi Corporation regarding a 6.5% stake in GCash owner Globe Fintech Innovations Inc. (Mynt) has finally closed, according to a Manila Bulletin business news report.

For the newcomers reading this, the Ayala-Mitsubishi deal was sealed a few months ago and it was perceived that it will likely boost the IPO of GCash.

To put things in perspective, posted below is an excerpt from the business news report of the Manila Bulletin. Some parts in boldface…

The Zobel family’s Ayala Corp. (AC) has closed the sale of a 6.5-percent stake in GCash owner Globe Fintech Innovations Inc. (Mynt) to long-time partner Mitsubishi Corp. for ₱18.4 billion after the deal was cleared by the anti-trust watchdog Philippine Competition Commission (PCC).

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), Ayala said it has sold half of wholly owned AC Ventures Holding Corp. (ACV) to Mitsubishi. ACV owns about 13 percent of Mynt. Mynt has two financial technology (fintech) companies: G-Xchange Inc., the mobile wallet operator of GCash, and Fuse Lending, a tech-based microlender.

The PCC has cleared the deal after finding that Mitsubishi’s investment in ACV would not significantly reduce competition in the market for QR code-based digital payments to merchants.

The PCC noted in its decision the relatively small market share held by GCash in the provision of QR-based person-to-merchant payments. Additionally, the PCC cited the strong governmental push for interoperability in QR-based payments in the country as a factor in its approval.

Person-to-merchant payments, facilitated by QR codes, enable businesses to accept digital payments from consumers for goods and services.

While Mitsubishi indirectly owns Lawson Philippines, a convenience store chain that accepts QR code-based payments from consumers, the PCC said that its limited presence means the transaction would not result in a substantial lessening of competition.

“Mitsubishi, Japan’s largest trading company, can help Mynt grow overseas and within its own significant Japan-based ecosystem, and in areas like cloud-based payments and new credit algorithms,” Ayala said.

Ayala and Mitsubishi entered into a partnership and cooperation agreement in 1974 that has since featured industrial estates, renewable energy (RE) projects, a water utility, and auto dealerships.

Ayala President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Cezar P. Consing said earlier that, “We believe Mitsubishi can add meaningful value to Mynt, which will allow Mynt to deliver significant value to its over 94 million registered users.”

ACV will serve as Ayala and Mitsubishi’s joint venture (JV) entity that will explore consumer-related and digital opportunities in the Philippines.

“These initiatives are aligned with AC’s strategic priority to support the growth of clear business winners within its portfolio,” Ayala said.

Let me end this post by asking you readers: What is your reaction to this recent development? Do you think there will be a series of technological and technical improvements happening with GCash as a result of the closed deal between Ayala and Mitsubishi? How many people in your household are using GCash nowadays?

You may answer in the comments below. If you prefer to answer privately, you may do so by sending me a direct message online.

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Thank you for reading. If you find this article engaging, please click the like button below, share this article to others and also please consider making a donation to support my publishing. If you are looking for a copywriter to create content for your special project or business, check out my services and my portfolio. Feel free to contact me with a private message. Also please feel free to visit my Facebook page Author Carlo Carrasco and follow me on Twitter at  @HavenorFantasy as well as on Tumblr at https://carlocarrasco.tumblr.com/ and on Instagram athttps://www.instagram.com/authorcarlocarrasco

POGO Ban would help expedite Philippines’ exit from global financial watchdog’s “gray list” related to money laundering

POGO Ban would help expedite Philippines’ exit from global financial watchdog’s “gray list” related to money laundering

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In relation to helping the Philippines recover from the many negative effects caused by Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs), the declared nationwide ban on POGOs will help expedite the nation’s exit from the “gray list” of a global financial watchdog that has been monitoring jurisdictions for money laundering risks, according to a BusinessWorld news report.

To put things in perspective, posted below is an excerpt from the BusinessWorld news report. Some parts in boldface…

THE RECENT BAN on Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGO) would help expedite the country’s exit from a global financial watchdog’s “gray list” of jurisdictions under increased monitoring for money laundering risks, the central bank governor said.

“With the POGO ban, we do see a drop in money laundering, which should help us exit the gray list,” Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BPS) Governor Eli M. Remolona, Jr. told BusinessWorld in a text message.

Last week, President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. ordered a total ban on all offshore gaming operations due to their ties to illicit activities such as financial scams, money laundering, prostitution and human trafficking.

Mr. Marcos directed the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR) to shutter all POGO facilities by the end of the year.

This comes after the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) in June kept the Philippines in its gray list for a third straight year.

The global watchdog said the country still needs to address three remaining action items, one of which is “demonstrating that supervisors are using anti-money laundering and counterfinancing of terrorism (AML/CFT) controls to mitigate risks associated with casino junkets.”

Mr. Remolona earlier said the Philippines would likely exit the gray list by next year as it still needs to address the remaining deficiencies cited by the FATF.

From 2018 to 2023, the Philippines was among the top five countries in Southeast Asia with money laundering activities added over the five-year period, earlier data from Moody’s showed.

The number of money laundering events added in the Philippines jumped by 45% from 2022 to 2023, it said.

Chester B. Cabalza, founding president of Manila-based International Development and Security Cooperation, said Mr. Marcos’ order to ban POGOs would encourage more “legitimate” investments to enter into the country.

“With the expected ban, the Philippines may be relieved with the gray list tag and re-strategize for fulfilling more legal and moral entertainment investments for the inclusive growth of the country,” he said via Facebook Messenger.

Let me end this piece by asking you readers: What is your reaction to this recent development? Do you think improvements will be realized gradually over the next twelve months with the ban on POGOs in effect? Do you think that money laundering and crime related to POGOs will go down sharply?

You may answer in the comments below. If you prefer to answer privately, you may do so by sending me a direct message online.

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Thank you for reading. If you find this article engaging, please click the like button below, share this article to others and also please consider making a donation to support my publishing. If you are looking for a copywriter to create content for your special project or business, check out my services and my portfolio. Feel free to contact me with a private message. Also please feel free to visit my Facebook page Author Carlo Carrasco and follow me on Twitter at  @HavenorFantasy as well as on Tumblr at https://carlocarrasco.tumblr.com/ and on Instagram athttps://www.instagram.com/authorcarlocarrasco

GCash will start collecting P5 cash-in fee from those who use BPI and Union Bank in the 4th quarter

GCash will start collecting P5 cash-in fee from those who use BPI and Union Bank in the 4th quarter

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GCash, a very popular electronic wallet (e-wallet) here in the Philippines, will soon be charging a fee of P5 each time a user cashes in (loading money into his or her GCash account) via the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) or Union Bank of the Philippines, according to a business news story by the Philippine Star. For the newcomers reading this, GCash users can put money into their respective accounts in other ways such as doing it over-the-counter at recognized convenience stores, the cash-in kiosks and other types of businesses that accept GCash cash-in.

To put things in perspective, posted below is an excerpt from the Philippine Star business news report. Some parts in boldface…

E-wallet giant GCash will start charging a convenience fee of P5 for every time a user cashes in from its major partners Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) and Union Bank of the Philippines in the fourth quarter.

In an interview with reporters, GCash president and CEO Martha Sazon said the convenience fee remains to be one of the lowest compared to the transaction charges imposed by traditional banks that run as high as P25.

“As GCash continues to scale, we still subsidize most of the charges as well as heavily invest on upgrading our infrastructure and reinforcing security services,” Sazon said.

Sazon said GCash has to slap a convenience fee for cashing in to cover its rising costs. However, Sazon said the fee only reduces the subsidies that GCash pays to keep its financial services affordable.

“This also ensures that our operations will remain seamless for all customers. Even with this fee, we will continue to subsidize part of the operating cost for our cash-ins as we remain committed to keeping our services affordable to many Filipinos,” Sazon said.

Sazon is encouraging GCash customers to compute how much they have to spend for every time they load their accounts through BPI and Union Bank.

For instance, Sazon said a user can cash in P10,000 in one go rather than top up P500 in tranches to minimize getting charged P5 every time.

Users can add cash to their GCash platform by linking it into their bank accounts. Likewise, they can cash-in via convenience stores, dedicated machines, department stores, gas stations, sari-sari stores, among others.

Last week, GCash announced that it would waive for the rest of the year the transaction charges on merchants for payments accepted through QR Ph. The e-wallet leader expects that through this, micro, small and medium enterprises will book extra earnings from cashless transactions.

GCash offers merchants access to e-wallet with a limit of up to P500,000 per month, waiving the transaction fee of 1.5 percent for P100,000 in gross sales.

GCash is one of the largest finance apps in the Philippines with a nationwide presence in more than 1,600 billers.

Let me end this piece by asking you readers: What is your reaction to this recent development? If you are a GCash user who often loads money using the respective apps or systems of BPI and Union Bank, does the above business story discourage you a lot?

You may answer in the comments below. If you prefer to answer privately, you may do so by sending me a direct message online.

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Thank you for reading. If you find this article engaging, please click the like button below, share this article to others and also please consider making a donation to support my publishing. If you are looking for a copywriter to create content for your special project or business, check out my services and my portfolio. Feel free to contact me with a private message. Also please feel free to visit my Facebook page Author Carlo Carrasco and follow me on Twitter at  @HavenorFantasy as well as on Tumblr at https://carlocarrasco.tumblr.com/ and on Instagram athttps://www.instagram.com/authorcarlocarrasco