The Ayala Group’s local fintech venture with Chinese giant Ant Financial announced that its QR-based lending platform reached P1 billion in loans to users armed with nothing more than a digital trust score.
Mynt (Globe Fintech Innovations)—the company that operates the GCash mobile wallet—said its GCredit platform also had 250,000 credit lines and low default rates a year since its launch.
GCredit is a feature in the GCash app that allows users to pay bills or buy goods from partner merchants.
Borrowing limit is determined by a so-called GScore, a novel trust-based system that tracks a user’s transactions within the app. For example, more GCash purchases mean a better GScore and a higher credit limit.
The platform aims to close a huge gap in the country’s financial system given that most Filipinos do not have access to traditional credit or banking services.
“GCredit was developed to address the social pain points in accessing loans, which are the lack of documents required by institutions, high interest rates from loan sharks, and the shame associated with borrowing money from family and friends,” Mynt said in a statement.
As of June 17, GCredit limits ranged from P200 to P500 to a select number of users. Mynt said the platform would eventually be open to all qualified users of GCash.
According to Mynt, GCredit is used mainly to pay for goods in merchants such as Puregold, Robinsons, SM and Waltermart. The top billers are Globe Postpaid, Globe at Home, PLDT, Meralco and Smart, it added.
“GCredit was designed so that no one who needs credit would be rejected. Typically, when customers apply for a loan, there’s that anxiety that stems from not knowing whether they will get approved or not,” Mynt CEO Anthony Thomas said in a statement.
“We want customers to feel that they have earned our trust and they are worthy to get credit,” he added.
GCredit was launched in March 2018. Users can avail themselves of credit and payment services via the GCash app, with a revolving credit line that is replenished every time payment is made. Interest rates are prorated, and customers can pay anytime through push payments via the app.
Mynt is owned by Ayala Corp., Globe Telecom and Ant Financial, led by Chinese billionaire Jack Ma.