MANILA, Philippines — The stock investment platform of e-wallet giant GCash continues to gain momentum, with its user base soaring to a new milestone.
In just less than a year since its launch, GStocks PH, which is powered by AB Capital Securities Inc., has expanded its registered users to over 800,000.
The growing number reflects the increasing interest in stock market engagement in the platform, according to GCash.
“This milestone underscores GCash’s commitment to making investment opportunities more accessible to Filipinos across the country,” GCash vice president and group head of wealth management and new businesses Winsley Bangit said.
“In addition, through GStocks PH, GCash has helped boost the number of Philippine investors where one in five Philippine Stock Exchange accounts trade via the app,” he said.
GStocks PH simplifies stock investments by allowing users to easily buy shares from companies listed on the PSE for less than P1,000.
Users can invest in over 280 local companies directly through the GCash app.
GCash said the introduction of stock investment and savings accounts as in-app features of the e-wallet have rapidly democratized access to these wealth-building digital finance tools for millions of first-time users.
As of the end of July, the GStocks PH team reported that the service has enabled users to create wealth of about P12 million in gains.
Last year, GCash tapped AB Capital Securities to introduce GStocks PH to its users, allowing them to diversify their portfolios and choose companies listed on the PSE.
The PSE’s annual stock market investor profile report showed that there was a total of 1.91 million stock market accounts as of end-2023, 11.3 percent higher than the 1.71 million accounts the previous year.
New accounts opened through the GStocks PH platform pushed the share of online accounts to 80 percent of the total stock market accounts.
Online accounts grew by 21.2 percent year-on-year to 1.53 million last year.
GCash, however, said that its commitment to financial inclusion extends beyond stock investments.
It said the GSave tab within the app’s dashboard recently streamlined savings management for 10.9 million users.
“GCash has been known for championing financial inclusion, especially for the unbanked and underbanked. With our current GSave partners, namely, BPI, CIMB, UNO Digital Bank and Maybank, we want to enable more Filipinos to build their wealth and achieve their financial goals,” Bangit said.