MYNT, a financial technology start-up wholly-owned by Globe Telecom, Inc., recently rolled out GCash in some of the biggest shopping malls in Davao City, including Ayala Abreeza Mall, SM Lanang, and NCCC Mall with more than 50 participating establishments. Elvin A. Dayanghirang, account manager for Business Development in Mindanao, told media that all malls in the city will eventually be covered by the smartphone-based payment system. “GCash is the leading micro payment service that essentially transforms smartphone into a wallet for a secure financial transaction. It has multiple services: buy load, pay bills, send money, book a movie, shop online and now even shop offline,” said JM Aujero, head of Merchant Solutions. Mr. Aujero said Mynt aims to enable the “financially underserved” consumers. “Devices are very expensive and for students, they can’t afford to get approved for credit cards so they are our major segment,” said Mr. Aujero, adding that their main target market are those in the 18 to 35-year-old bracket. He said that there is a big opportunity for mobile financial access as 40% of Filipinos don’t have access to banks and yet at least 33 million Filipinos have smartphones. — Maya M. Padillo

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