Globe Telecom Inc. said Wednesday it completed a deal with Ant Financial Services Group, a unit of Jack Ma’s Alibaba Group, to invest in Globe Fintech Innovations Inc., or Mynt.
Globe, the country’s second largest telecommunications company led by the Ayala Group, said in a disclosure to the stock exchange that after closing the transaction, Ant Financial would have a 45-percent ownership in Mynt while Globe Capital Venture Holdings Inc. would hold 45 percent. AC Ventures Holding Corp., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ayala, will have 10 percent.
The fresh capital infusion from Ant will help Mynt achieve its vision to become a world-class online and offline payment provider, scale up its mobile wallet services and quickly expand its digital financial services.
Mynt operates GCash and Fuse Lending.
GCash is an internationally-acclaimed micropayment service which can be used to buy prepaid load, pay bills, send money, make donations, shop online, and purchase goods without the need for cash. Fuse Lending offers personal and business loans to unbanked and underserved Filipinos through the use of mobile technology, alternative dat and innovative credit scoring methods.
The deal represents Ant Financial’s first investment in the Philippines and demonstrates the company’s confidence in Mynt and its management team to upgrade digital financial services in the region.
Ant Financial, whose suite of digital financial services includes Alipay, will share with Mynt its know-how in using technology to provide equal access to financial services.
“A world-leading digital financial services provider has decided to partner with us. We are confident that having a strategic partner for Mynt will help fulfill our mission of providing financial services in a non-traditional manner that will benefit the majority of our population who are unbanked,” said Globe president and chief executive Ernest Cu.
“With this partnership, we are set to democratize financial services in the Philippines,” Cu said.
Ant Financial Group, owned by Chinese billionaire Jack Ma, is a major third-party payment service provider in 70 overseas markets. It covers more than 100,000 retail stores and can carry out transactions in 18 currencies.
