Filipinos continue to face barriers to financial inclusion, where gender parity issues exist, and a significant segment of the population remains unbanked or underserved by traditional financial institutions.
The 2020 pandemic was a turning point in the country’s digital transformation. According to available data, an estimated 29% of the population was considered unbanked or underbanked in early 2020. Moreover, 23% had access to insurance, only 2% had access to formal credit during this period, and only 1% had access to investments.
millions of Filipinos, especially women, with greater access to credit, insurance, savings, andinvestment tools in the country’s growing digital economy.
GCash, the Philippines’ leading finance super app and largest cashless ecosystem, has been instrumental in breaking these barriers to inclusion. It began by enabling access to the marginalized who do not have traditional documentation or credit history.
“At GCash, we addressed inclusion barriers using tech-enabled and data-driven solutions guided by customer-centricity,”
said Martha Sazon, President & CEO of Mynt, the holding company of GCash, during the 2025 World Economic Forum in Davos.
“Our approach is centered on making products accessible, relevant, and simple, so we can work toward ensuring that no one is left behind.”
Leveling the playing field and unlocking opportunities
With millions of users, GCash pursues its vision of “Finance For All” by providing Filipinos—regardless of gender, background, or socioeconomic standing—with access to an e-wallet, loans, investments, and insurance coverage, as well as financial support for micro, small, and medium enterprises.
For the predominantly women-led fintech company, pursuing this mission involves dedicated efforts to equip women with the digital tools to make informed financial decisions, invest in their future, and ultimately achieve financial independence.
Sazon shared,
“Our goal of Finance For All is inextricably linked to nation-building in the Philippines. We know this cannot be achieved without women’s inclusion, as we have seen that women's empowerment leads to uplifting communities.”
Today, five out of ten GCash users are women. Addressing the nuanced nature of personal finances, GCash also goes beyond basic services to support Filipinos through a comprehensive digital ecosystem that caters to their diverse needs.
AI as a bridge to gender-inclusive finance
GCash attributes a significant part of its progress as an enabler of financial inclusion to artificial intelligence (AI). A user’s integration into the GCash ecosystem starts with an AI-powered onboarding process. GCash was the first to use the eKYC (electronic Know Your Customer) process in the Philippines, scaling market penetration while using alternative data.
“Fifty percent of our population doesn’t have documents,”
said Sazon.
“How do we address that? We use AI to score them instead. Those who use the GCash app to make payments and transactions [can be scored]. Now, millions [can] get a credit score without relying on documents or showing collateral.”
AI has also enabled GCash to personalize its services to already onboarded users, helping analyze each user’s needs, custom-tailoring outreach, and providing individualized financial solutions ranging from microloans for small businesses to flexible investment opportunities and affordable insurance coverage.
Creating opportunities for women to pursue their financial goals is another way AI boosts gender-inclusive financial empowerment in the Philippines. Today, five out of 10 GSave and GLoan users are women, while seven out of 10 GInsure users are women. Notably, GCash is also able to accelerate inclusion through its groundbreaking features like GScore, GCash’s proprietary credit scoring system that determines a user’s creditworthiness using AI and a person’s in-app activity.
“[Users] might not have the traditional requirements, but they have a digital footprint,”
cited Rowie Zamora, Chief Strategy Officer of GCash, at a WEF 2025 panel hosted by Deloitte.
“This has enabled us to unlock over USD 2 billion for micro-loans to 7 million Filipinos in the past several years,”
she added.
“That’s quite huge in a country where credit penetration has been in the low digits. Before the pandemic, only one percent of Filipinos had access to credit.”
Using AI to scale positive impact
For organizations like GCash, taking a people-centric approach to AI is key. It uses AI to enhance customer experience, streamline operations for greater efficiency, and preserve consumer trust in the digital finances space—as it offers alternatives that mitigate systemic barriers to financial inclusion, particularly for unbanked and traditionally underserved communities. Ultimately, these innovations aim to create a more inclusive and equitable financial system for all individuals.
GCash has also leveraged AI to create customer affinities that offer a deeper understanding of the market, paving the way for hyper-personalization that addresses a user’s needs with better precision. Through customer affinities, each user isn’t considered just a part of a demographic but is treated as their very own market segment. This approach has allowed GCash to scale its initiatives—from promoting financial literacy to supporting women-owned and women-led MSMEs.
The individualization of GCash’s suite of innovative in-app enablement platforms has allowed it to address financial concerns specific to Filipino women, who make up more than half of today’s social sellers who use cashless payment solutions.
“Each step toward financial inclusion is a step toward accelerating Filipino women’s economic empowerment,”
concluded Sazon.
“This month especially, we bear in mind what was reported by the World Economic Forum: that we stand to achieve full gender equality only in the year 2158 if we maintain our current pace. We at GCash feel the urgency now more than ever and aim to further utilize AI as tech for good.”
About Mynt
Mynt is the first and only $5 billion unicorn in the Philippines. It's a leader in mobile financial services focused on accelerating financial inclusion through mobile money, financial services, and technology. Mynt operates two fintech companies: GXI, the mobile wallet operator of GCash — the #1 Finance App in the Philippines, and Fuse Lending, a tech-based lending company that gives Filipinos access to microloans and business loans.
About GCash
GCash is the Philippines’ #1 Finance App and Largest Cashless Ecosystem. Through the GCash App, users can easily purchase prepaid airtime; pay bills via partner billers nationwide; send and receive money anywhere in the Philippines, even to other bank accounts; purchase from over 6 million partner merchants and social sellers; and get access to savings, credit, loans, insurance and invest money, and so much more, all at the convenience of their smartphones. GCash’s mobile wallet operations are handled by G-Xchange, Inc. (GXI), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mynt, the first and only duacorn in the Philippines.
Mynt and GCash are staunch supporters of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly UN SDGs 5,8,10, and 13, which focus on safety & security, financial inclusion, diversity, equity, and inclusion as well as taking urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts, respectively.
For more information, please contact:
Bruce Rodriguez, Head of Business Communications
Corporate Communications
Legal Disclaimer & Safe Harbor Statement
This press release is for informational purposes only and does not constitute, or form part of, any offer, solicitation, or invitation to sell, issue, purchase, or subscribe for any securities in the Philippines, the United States, or any other jurisdiction. No securities of Mynt, Inc. have been or will be registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and such securities may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from registration requirements. There will be no public offering of the securities of the Company in the United States. No money, securities or other consideration is being solicited by this document or the information contained herein and, if sent in response to this document or the information contained herein, will not be accepted. Any potential initial public offering and listing in the Philippines, if pursued, remain fully subject to prevailing market conditions and regulatory approvals, including the registration requirements of the Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission and the listing rules of the Philippine Stock Exchange, Inc., and there can be no assurance that any such filings will be made or that any offering or listing will be consummated. This document contains forward-looking statements that involve inherent risks and uncertainties; actual results, timelines, and outcomes may differ materially from those projected due to shifting market dynamics, economic environments, and regulatory updates.
