While valuations in private markets often do not reflect how companies will be valued when they go public, there is reason to believe that Mynt’s is not excessively high. Indeed, GCash has 94 million users in a nation of 112 million and is profitable. In 2023, the company had net income of US$115 million. Mynt began to break even in the second half of 2021, and investment bank Jefferies expects that it could already account for around 20% for Globe Telecom's 2024 earnings.
Mynt executives say an IPO is in the works. “We want to do it sooner rather than later. Sometime in 2025 would be the best estimate I can give you,” Globe CEO Ernest Cu said in May. He added that the company has “investors who would like to see some liquidity, so we may have to do it at some point.” While Mynt prefers to list in the Philippines, Cu said the group is considering a dual listing, with the second IPO possibly in the United States. “The rationale is trying to take advantage of the liquidity in the US market,” he said, citing limited trading volumes in the Philippines.
Meanwhile, GCash may apply for a digital banking license in the Philippines now that it is flush with fresh capital. That move would mark a break from its long-running strategy of relying on a large partner network to provide banking services.
Until just a few weeks ago, it would not have been possible to apply for such a license given a moratorium on new licenses the Philippine central bank had imposed to give the current licensees time to develop their businesses. However, in mid-August, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) announced it would lift the moratorium from January 1, 2025 and permit up to 10 online lenders to operate in the Philippines. There are currently six.