GCash’s lending unit is scaling up its ambition to bring formal credit deeper into the country’s small-business sector after securing a ₱1.75-billion loan facility from the Asian Development Bank, a deal that positions digital finance as a frontline tool for inclusive growth.
The facility, equivalent to about $30 million, was sealed through Fuse Financing Inc., the lending arm of GCash parent Mynt, in a partnership that both sides describe as a first-of-its-kind fintech collaboration for ADB in the ASEAN region.
The agreement was formalized in Taguig City by Mynt president and chief executive officer Martha Sazon, Fuse Financing president and CEO Tony Isidro, and ADB officials, under a program dubbed “Driving Inclusive Finance for Filipino MSMEs.”
Beyond the headline amount, the partnership reflects a strategic bet on digital platforms to close long-standing financing gaps for micro, small, and medium enterprises, particularly those outside major urban centers.
ADB said the alliance marries its development financing mandate with Fuse’s data-driven lending and GCash’s nationwide digital reach, allowing credit to flow to entrepreneurs who have historically struggled to meet the requirements of traditional banks.
“This is about building an inclusive digital financial ecosystem,” ADB officials said, noting that the program is designed to prioritize women-led enterprises and businesses in rural and underserved areas. The multilateral lender added that the initiative signals a broader shift in how development institutions work with private fintech players to accelerate financial inclusion.
The timing is significant. According to the Department of Trade and Industry, the Philippines had about 1.24 million registered businesses as of 2024, with MSMEs accounting for more than 99 percent of the total.
Yet despite their dominance in numbers and employment, many remain underbanked, constrained by limited collateral, thin credit histories, and geographic distance from formal lenders.
DTI Secretary Cristina Roque said the partnership’s value lies not just in the scale of funding, but in its intent to direct capital toward entrepreneurs ready to grow but long excluded from mainstream finance. She described the collaboration as an example of how public-sector priorities and private-sector innovation can converge to widen access to formal, fair, and sustainable credit.
As part of the deal, ADB will also extend up to $125,000 in technical assistance to Fuse Financing. The support will be used to develop more tailored financial products and to roll out financial and digital literacy programs, with a strong focus on women entrepreneurs, particularly those with limited formal education.
Industry observers say this component could be crucial in ensuring that expanded credit access translates into healthier, more resilient businesses rather than short-term borrowing.
For GCash and its lending arm, the facility strengthens a broader push to position digital finance as an engine for grassroots growth. Sazon said the partnership enhances Fuse’s ability to serve MSMEs and women entrepreneurs who remain underserved by the market, while Isidro noted that the additional funding allows the company to accelerate lending in areas and sectors with high long-term growth potential.
With digital wallets already deeply embedded in everyday transactions across the Philippines, the challenge now is converting that reach into meaningful financial empowerment for small businesses. The ADB-backed facility gives Fuse Financing more firepower to do just that, reinforcing the idea that the next phase of MSME growth may be driven not by brick-and-mortar branches, but by smartphones in the hands of entrepreneurs nationwide.