Investing in stocks 101

It is worth looking forward to the initial public offering (IPO) scheduled next month of electronic wallet giant GCash. The forthcoming IPO of GCash will certainly generate much interest among more than half of the 90 million registered users who actively use one of the country’s most popular e-wallet apps. Established in 2004 as e-wallet brand GCash, the Mynt Inc. will make its IPO offering on Oct. 20 at the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), as announced earlier. The 22-year-old Mynt Inc. is described as a “fintech unicorn,” or a privately held financial technology (fintech) company currently not yet listed in the PSE.

At the Kapihan sa Manila Bay news forum last Wednesday, capital market expert Jonathan Ravelas and Scam Watch Pilipinas convenor Jocel de Guzman welcomed the IPO announcement of Mynt Inc., a fintech enterprise backed by Globe Telecom Inc. and Ayala Corp. and parent company of GCash. Both Ravelas and De Guzman cited financial analysts who foresee strong growth and earnings potential in GCash operator Mynt to support a valuation of as much as P10 per share.

Ravelas explained the P10 maximum offer price contained in Mynt’s filing represents a regulatory ceiling that gives the issuer flexibility as it proceeds with the offering. It is neither the company’s target price nor its final offer price, Ravelas hastily clarified. He pointed out it will be determined through bookbuilding based on investors’ trust that will fuel demand, company fundamentals, comparable firms, market conditions and the structure and size of the offer.

He cited the more meaningful question is not simply how close the final price comes to the ceiling. It is whether the offering attracts credible long-term investments, generates healthy demand at a sustainable valuation and provides a foundation for value creation after listing.

An IPO is the first time a private company sells its shares of stock to the general public. In the IPO of Mynt, it will change its status from a private business owned by a few people into a public company listed in the PSE. A company that also goes on IPO can get and raise cash to grow the business, build new products or pay off debts. Or, to other companies, it allows their early owners and founders to sell their private shares for a profit.

Thus, Mynt’s IPO will give ordinary Filipino GCash users the opportunity to become stakeholders of a giant e-wallet company.

Many Juan dela Cruz and Juana dela Cruz who have small savings to spare can now become stockholders with minimum amount of at least P10 per share price in the IPO.

Citing data from GCash, De Guzman disclosed, an average of least 49 million GCash users per month actively use their e-wallet. Out of 95 million Filipinos connected to the internet, De Guzman cited, more than P1 trillion in transactions went through the digital infrastructure of GCash. “Using their GCash has been a part of their daily lives,” De Guzman noted.

“Our position is simple. If GCash is going public, it should come with higher transparency, stronger accountability and better consumer protection because it holds the money and data of millions of Filipinos,” De Guzman urged.

“And for those planning to buy, make sure you deal only through official GCash channels and authorized platforms to avoid investment scams and fake offers,” De Guzman advised the public in general.

Like any fintech unicorn, Mynt currently relies on private funding, use software, mobile apps, artificial intelligence (AI) or blockchain to change traditional banking, lending, investing or payments. By industry standards, the market value of fintech unicorn exceeds $1 billion based on investor funding rounds.

Morgan Stanley earlier highlighted Mynt’s profitability at scale, citing P17.2 billion in net income on P79.7 billion in adjusted revenue in 2025, equivalent to a 21.6 percent net margin and a 32.1 percent return on equity. For 2026, Morgan Stanley reportedly projects Mynt’s net income to rise to P21.2 billion.

Based in New York City, Morgan Stanley is a company that helps big companies buy, sell and trade stocks or bonds. With Morgan Stanley acting as a joint global coordinator and joint bookrunner, their financial review outlined Mynt’s preparation for a maiden public offering valued at up to P92.3 billion.

The digital e-wallet platforms in the Philippines are highly competitive. The major platforms are licensed as electronic money issuers (EMIs) by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

The largest direct competitor of GCash is Maya, formerly PayMaya, that is operated by Maya Philippines Inc. under Voyager Innovations. Maya functions as an all-in-one e-wallet and digital bank. It is popular because users can seamlessly move money from their e-wallet into a high-yield Maya Savings account. But Maya-Voyager have yet to go into IPO.

The healthy competition in the e-wallet industry reflects the digital platform’s evolution into a sustainable fintech business, allowing early investors to realize gains while testing the Philippine capital market’s potential to host massive fundraisings. Market analysts underscored the success of the offering, however, should be measured beyond whether its final offer price matches the maximum indicated in its regulatory filing.

Much more crucial are investor quality, sustainable demand and long-term value creation which will provide a broader test of its strength. The upcoming listing of GCash-Mynt is also being viewed as a major milestone for the Philippine capital market. Potentially, it will give millions of Filipinos an opportunity to own shares in one of the country’s biggest homegrown fintech companies and broaden retail participation in equities.

It was thus timely for the government, through the Board of Investments (BOI), to launch the Digital Investor’s Guidebook designed as an interactive online platform to assist foreign and local investors transacting with various Philippine government agencies.

Why not come out with an idiot’s guide for the many first-timers like us on how to use our e-wallet savings to become stockholders, too. The BOI Guidebook is only for big business. The government must also assist ordinary Filipinos to become small investors through IPOs like that of GCash-Mynt.