A recent deal that valued Globe Fintech Innovations Inc., better known as Mynt and the parent company of GCash, at USD5 billion has left PLDT and Smart chairman and CEO Manuel V. Pangilinan thinking out loud about the performance of Maya Innovations Holdings—the group’s unit directly competing with GCash.
“Kudos to them,” said Pangilinan at the briefing for PLDT’s first-half results, referring to new investments secured by GCash from Ayala Corp. and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group of Japan that boosted the value of the privately-held fintech firm from USD2 billion in 2021.
Maya, a digital bank and payment services venture, was last valued in 2022 at USD1.4 billion.
Pangilinan expressed disappointment over Maya’s performance and wants a “greater say” on the direction of the digital bank. PLDT and the First Pacific Group, with their combined 40 percent stake, is the largest investor group in Maya.
Losses at Maya tempered PLDT’s first half earnings, with net profit flat at P18.4 billion despite a 4 percent gain in gross service revenue to P103.4 billion.
At the end of June, Maya user base soared with deposit balances rising to P32.8 billion on the back of innovative savings products and higher interest rates linked to everyday spending. The number of borrowers surged to 1.2 million, and bank customers increased to 4 million.
The company has scaled its lending profitably, with Maya Bank turning cashflow positive in the second quarter this year. Loan disbursements to-date rose to P46.8 billion as of end-June, and should grow with strategic initiatives such as device financing with PLDT and Smart, and loan channeling with Tala.
