MANILA, Philippines — GCash is one major step closer to making Philippine stock-market history.
The Securities and Exchange Commission has cleared the registration of GCash operator Mynt Inc. for an initial public offering that could reach as much as P92.32 billion, potentially smashing the Philippine record for the biggest IPO ever completed on the local stock exchange.
But behind the blockbuster headline is a detail investors may want to examine closely: most of the shares being sold are not new shares issued by Mynt. They are shares being sold by existing investors.
The SEC En Banc resolved on September 3 to render effective Mynt’s registration statement covering up to 66.9 billion common shares, subject to the company’s compliance with remaining requirements. The decision was announced on September 4.
If the transaction proceeds according to its current timetable, Mynt plans to open its public offering from October 6 to October 12, 2026, before making its Philippine Stock Exchange debut on October 20 under the ticker symbol GCASH.
Why the P92.32-billion figure needs context
Mynt’s IPO is structured around up to 8.03 billion firm shares.
Of those, about 1.61 billion are primary shares newly issued by Mynt, while as many as 6.42 billion are existing shares being sold by current shareholders.
The deal also includes an overallotment or “greenshoe” option covering up to another 1.20 billion secondary shares.
At the maximum indicative price of P10 per share, the base transaction could reach roughly P80.3 billion. If the overallotment option is fully exercised, the total size could climb to approximately P92.32 billion.
That would put the offering well ahead of Monde Nissin’s roughly P48.6-billion IPO in 2021, currently regarded as the largest Philippine IPO on record.
The P10 figure, however, should not be mistaken for a guaranteed final IPO price.
Mynt is scheduled to conduct pricing on October 1, with the final offer price expected to be disclosed afterward. Market demand during the book-building process could ultimately determine where the shares are priced.
Here’s the part investors may scrutinize
Although headlines describe a potential P92.32-billion IPO, Mynt itself is expected to receive only about P14.95 billion in net proceeds from the primary shares.
The remainder largely represents proceeds from secondary shares sold by existing investors, less expenses associated with the offering.
Based on Mynt’s prospectus, approximately 80% of the base offer consists of secondary shares. Assuming the overallotment option is fully exercised, selling shareholders could receive roughly P74.3 billion in net proceeds, while Mynt would receive around P14.9 billion.
That does not automatically make the IPO unattractive. Secondary offerings are common and allow early investors to realize part of their gains.
But it changes the question investors have to ask.
This is not simply a P92-billion capital injection into GCash.
Only a fraction of the overall transaction would become fresh capital available directly to Mynt for expansion.
The company says proceeds from its primary offering will be used to expand digital financial services, develop new products, support strategic cash reserves and meet general corporate requirements.
GCash could enter the market with a P669-billion valuation
At the maximum P10 offer price, Mynt expects an implied market capitalization of approximately P668.96 billion, or roughly $11 billion depending on exchange rates.
That would place the GCash operator among Southeast Asia’s most valuable fintech businesses.
The valuation will likely become one of the most closely watched parts of the deal.
Unicapital Securities equity research analyst Peter Garnace previously told The Philippine Star that investors would likely scrutinize the final offer price and Mynt’s growth prospects. At P10 a share, the implied valuation would represent a significant premium compared with the company’s earlier private-market valuations.
In other words, getting SEC clearance may have removed an important regulatory hurdle.
Convincing investors that the valuation is worth paying could be the harder test.
Mynt becomes first major beneficiary of new public-float rules
The IPO is also breaking regulatory ground.
Mynt is expected to become the first large issuer allowed to begin trading with a minimum public float of 12% rather than the standard 15%, under new SEC rules covering companies with exceptionally large market capitalizations.
Mynt qualifies because its projected P668.96-billion market capitalization is far above the P200-billion threshold under the revised framework.
The base IPO would therefore represent about 12% of Mynt’s outstanding common shares after the transaction. The public float could increase to roughly 13.8% if the entire overallotment option is exercised.
For the PSE, the listing could provide something the Philippine market has historically lacked: a large, locally listed technology and financial-services platform with tens of millions of active customers.
GCash enters the IPO with enormous scale
GCash’s sheer size explains much of the excitement surrounding the listing.
In 2025, Mynt reported approximately P79.8 billion in revenue and P17.2 billion in net income, while GCash processed around P17 trillion in payment transaction value.
The platform had about 39.1 million monthly active users during 2025.
Growth continued into 2026.
By June, monthly active users had climbed to roughly 41.5 million, while payment volume during the first half increased 23% to P9.84 trillion.
Mynt’s first-half net income rose about 7% to P10.82 billion.
Those numbers underline why investors have been waiting for the GCash IPO for years.
But they also reveal why valuation will matter.
Growth remains strong — but there are warning signs
GCash is still expanding, but its latest financial figures suggest the business is entering a more mature stage.
Mynt’s first-half EBITDA slipped about 4% to P11.76 billion, while its EBITDA margin narrowed to 27.3% from 31.3%.
Its payment take rate also declined to 0.25% from 0.32%, partly reflecting regulatory changes and restrictions affecting transactions linked to online gaming.
GCash has also reduced bank-transfer fees following tighter rules on electronic payment charges, while traditional banks and competing fintech platforms are aggressively battling for the same digital customers.
Mynt itself has warned in its IPO disclosures that changes in regulations covering payments, lending and other financial products could affect future revenue or margins.
That leaves investors weighing two very different sides of the GCash story.
On one side is a dominant Philippine digital-finance platform with tens of millions of active customers, massive transaction volumes, strong profitability and opportunities in lending, savings, investments, insurance and merchant services.
On the other is an IPO carrying a potentially aggressive valuation, a large secondary-share component and growing regulatory and competitive pressure.
October could decide whether the hype becomes history
The SEC approval takes Mynt substantially closer to what could become a defining moment for the Philippine capital market.
If the IPO reaches its maximum P92.32-billion size, GCash would not merely break the country’s IPO record—it would almost double the amount raised by the previous record-holder.
It could also test whether Philippine investors are willing to assign a technology-style valuation to a homegrown fintech giant on the PSE.
But regulatory approval was only one hurdle.
The decisive numbers will come during book-building: the final price investors are prepared to pay, the level of demand for the shares, and how much confidence the market places in GCash’s next stage of growth.
For millions of Filipinos, GCash has already changed the way money moves.
The next question is whether investors believe that success is worth nearly P669 billion.
WWC ONE MEDIA J.M.D
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