MANILA, PHILIPPINES – Today, every six out of 10 Filipinos have a GCash account. That huge user base reflects the massive growth GCash has amassed since launching its app in 2012 and pioneering cashless and digital payments in the Philippines by introducing mobile QR payments in 2017. More importantly, it represents a breakthrough in the country’s financial landscape where cash has historically been king. With a low penetration in digital banking and other cashless systems such as credit cards, GCash was able to break through the barriers — offering a quick, easy, and secure way to bank and transact without cash especially during the pandemic. “As leaders, we all need guiding lights; something to show us the way. At GCash, we look to our customers as our north star,” said Martha Sazon, GCash President and CEO at the recent GCash Insider: Decoding the New Filipino event. Empowering 69 million Filipinos nationwide, GCash has grown to become the undisputed no. 1 financial app in the Philippines — a base three times larger than their pre-pandemic figures. Today, Filipinos of all backgrounds, across all regions, use GCash for their daily needs. This provides GCash with unparalleled insight into how Filipinos spend, save, invest, and more. With a diverse user base that spans age, sex, class, location, and interests, GCash has access to an exclusive and incisive view into various affinities of what drives and moves Filipino users across ages, classes, and interests, based on first-party data and purchase signals. The exponential growth with which GCash grew over the past few years have given the brand exclusive and unprecedented access to how Filipinos behave and transact online — and they are bringing brands and businesses along the journey with GCash Partner Marketing. Here are some of the insights they are leveraging: The Covid-19 pandemic changed how Filipinos transact Filipinos have primarily transacted with cash across the country. Pre-pandemic figures reflect this: in 2019, only 1 in 10 used their mobile phones and the internet for financial transactions, according to a Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas report. Yet when the Covid-19 pandemic hit and brought various disruptions in different aspects of living across the world, this led to dramatic changes in spending and consumption habits among Filipinos. “Pivot” became the word of the day for businesses of all sizes and sectors trying to stay afloat. “Businesses needed to pivot to be able to survive. Globe engaged with this transformation by evolving its services to help businesses pivot and change the way we operate in our own environment,” shared Jaime Alfonso Zobel de Ayala, Head of Business Development and Digital Innovation Group of Ayala Corporation. Having already introduced mobile QR payments in 2017 and a primary user base of early adopters between ages 23 to 45 and from the ABC demographic, the pandemic ramped up digital adoption and expanded GCash’s reach to a larger and more diverse audience. During the pandemic, digital payments surged by 5,000%, and GCash’s payments rose by 700% year-on-year in May 2020 alone. In 2022, the mass market now makes up 65% of GCash’s user base, proving that Filipinos have maintained the digital-first habits they adopted during the pandemic and learning to adapt it to their daily needs: from the parent who uses GCash to pay for their child’s tuition or settle their household bills, to the online seller who continues to transact with clients and suppliers through GCash. Gain exclusive access to GCash’s best-in-class insights, derived from unique purchase signals and verified demographics, and how these can help drive business growth for your brand. Request for the “GCash Insider: Decoding the New Filipino” Whitepaper here. New consumer behaviors among Filipinos emerged While e-wallet adoption exploded amid the pandemic, it was also during this time that many Filipinos experienced an impact on their personal finances — reshaping their perspective on money and savings. Thus, today’s Filipino consumers are now future-looking, and are constantly conscious of their wallet balance, their transactions on offline and online stores, and a wide array of shopping portals. The pandemic has also changed conventional consumer profiles as we used to know them, giving rise to new affinities, based on insights we uncovered from data on their app-related activity and purchase decisions. GCash has mapped and identified over 50 affinities the app reaches each day, further complemented with verified demographics. New segmented audiences such as Buy Load Resellers, Home Decorators and Builders, Pet Lovers, and Tech Geeks provide a more nuanced insight into what motivates and drives these niche audiences — allowing us to delight them with more personalized and tailored experiences. GCash is closer to achieving financial inclusion Throughout these strides made, as GCash’s ecosystem continues to evolve, so does its brand purpose. As the no.1 financial app, GCash has achieved an unprecedented level of inclusivity as everyday Filipinos, especially underbanked ones, have embraced GCash in most of their spending habits — and helps shape their financial opportunities by creating their own digital footprint. Take the case of a market vendor with a monthly cash flow of PHP 400,000, whose financial prospects are limited because he lacks the proper paperwork necessary to secure a traditional bank. GScore API, allows a frictionless and easy way to provide a trust rating for the cash-rich yet underbanked, so they can gain access to options that widen their economic opportunities such as a loan to expand a business. GScore is GCash’s API solution, launched among many new offerings in GCash’s innovative suite of Partner Marketing products. As millions of people rely on GCash’s app each day, this places the brand at a unique position to connect Filipinos from all walks of life to the services that matter most to them. With a suite of ad, promo and identity solutions, GCash Partner Marketing leverages the strengths of GCash collected from our online and offline presence across more than 5 million MSME partners, our reach of 69 million Filipinos, and our engagement of up to 26 million sessions a day. Gain exclusive access to GCash’s best-in-class insights, derived from unique purchase signals and verified demographics, and how these can help drive business growth for your brand. Request for the “GCash Insider: Decoding the New Filipino” Whitepaper here.
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