Mobile wallet company GCash is still ironing out regulatory concerns but is on track to offer GStocks to potential Filipino investors this month.
GStocks is an in-app trading feature of GCash, which the company announced will be available by September.
Greg Igaya, GCash VP for Technology and Development and Operations, said the Ayala-owned company is still conducting “talks” with regulators, chiefly the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), before a full roll-out of the service.
Igaya told Newsbytes.PH that GCash and the SEC are ironing out some “concerns,” but the full roll out of GStocks this September is still expected.
Igaya did not disclose the issues or concerns raised by the SEC, but said GCash is on track for the rollout. “I cannot disclose the exact date, but we are on track to offer GStocks this month,” Igaya said.
It can be recalled that GCash announced a September rollout of its GStocks service, a full year after the company announced the service offering in 2022.
In July 2023, GCash initiated a “soft” launch of the service with a partnership it signed with the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) and AB Capital Securities.
The test run begun in early 2023, but since then GCash has yet to disclose the date of a full rollout.
GStocks is deemed important, as it will allow more Filipinos to invest in the local stock market. According to Igaya, the number of Filipino stock investors remains “very low.”
PSE chief Ramon Monzon was earlier quoted saying that regulators “wanted to make sure that there would be enough know-your-customer (KYC) measures done for users of the platform.”
According to GCash, GStocks will be available to fully-verified GCash users without the need for a bank account. The trading platform will be powered by AB Capital Securities.
Currently, GCash has an estimated 66 million users.
GStocks will make roughly 300 publicly-listed companies to be accessible on the platform, GCash said, thus making stock trading accessible to “small investors” or those wanting to try stock trading.
In a previous report, GCash said through GStocks, investors can buy and sell local shares in real-time, monitor pending trades; access stock watch lists, and direct research reports and disclosures.
