When the pandemic upended the world, this lady boss sought to turn it upright.
“What made a difference for us was when the world closed down, we were ready with our robust platform and relevant products,” says GCash president and CEO Martha Sazon, who assumed her post in 2020, the year the pandemic shook the world.
The former senior vice president and head of Globe’s broadband business, Martha has more than 20 years of experience from various industries like food, over-the-counter drugs and personal care.
Still, she confided to PeopleAsia magazine, which named her one of its “Women of Style and Substance” for 2021, she did have her fair share of worries.
“I was very happy but also a little apprehensive at the beginning. We were in the middle of the lockdown and there was so much uncertainty, what with the virus going around,” she shares.
Setting aside her apprehensions, Martha led GCash’s exponential growth, growing its base from 20 million users in 2020 to over 40 million in the second quarter of 2021.
This wife and mother of two knew just what the people needed at the time they needed it most — a way to go on living and earning a living.
“We gave users easy access to do money transfers and purchase essentials, enabled merchants with cashless payments, and became the platform of choice to help other people. In doing these, we helped keep the economy going,” says Martha.
GCash now processes some P300 billion in monthly transactions as more Filipinos continue to turn to cashless options to adjust to the safety demands of the lockdown.
“We are glad to see that GCash has become an extension of the Filipino digital life,” points out Martha, a Business Administration and Accounting cum laude graduate from the University of the Philippines-Diliman. “Everyone deserves to have ways to protect and grow their money, especially during these difficult times.”
With the increasing reliance of many people on online platforms for their needs, the mobile wallet is expected to triple its gross transaction value by yearend to over P3 trillion — from over P1 trillion in 2020.
“The pandemic also pushed us to innovate, and we launched more relevant services that could benefit our users at a time like this,” says Martha.
What are the secrets to GCash’s exponential growth at a time when many enterprises slowed down?
For one, GCash partnered with over 100 food, grocery and gadget brands in the GCash app.
“We also have over 500 billers nationwide — from utilities to credit cards — to offer the highest level of convenience to our users,” she points out. (Ever since I learned how to use GCash, it has been a godsend.)
Last year, GCash also partnered with various LGUs to implement a safer, cashless Social Amelioration Program, disbursing P16 billion worth of government aid to two million Filipinos.
It also launched GLife, which gives users access to their favorite apps without needing to download them separately. “We now have more than a hundred legitimate and trustworthy merchants on our platform, across various industries like food, lifestyle, and gaming, even government and lifestyle,” she says.
Women for women
“In Mynt (the company behind GCash), the CEO, the chief tech and operations, chief compliance and chief legal officers are all women!” Martha says proudly.
(Still, she says that GCash is the brainchild of a man, Globe CEO Ernest Cu, “a brilliant innovator and a rock-star CEO.”)
By her own example, she shows how work-life balance is doable.
“I think the only good thing to come out of this pandemic is that I get to spend more time with my sons and see them grow in front of my eyes. As for my husband, we continue to be each other’s support system in everything that we do,” she told PeopleAsia.
Martha believes that an effective way to address the gender disparity in the workplace is to mentor women.
“Leading by example is important. We need to be shown to more people so we get to a point that we are ‘ordinary’ — that it becomes normal that women can become successful in their decisions,” Martha said when she spoke at a recent webinar organized by DealStreetAsia, a Singapore-based financial news website.
“We are opening up, not just the tech industry but also the fintech (financial technology) industry as well, to women. It’s a lot of visual role modeling — someone just has to pave the way for it,” she said.
“When you are passionate about something, it will show. You have to build your credibility and it is built with what you believe in, what you are passionate about and your purpose,” she added.
“Be unfazed. Trust your capability and talent and you’ll get there,” Martha concluded.
And there are trillions of reasons to believe her.
E-book on PNoy
Salamat PNoy, an E-book on the life and work of the late President Benigno S. Aquino III, will be launched virtually at 10 a.m. tomorrow, Sept. 1.
Edited by Paulynn Sicam and designed by Ali Figueroa, the book, the first of two volumes, is a compilation of testimonies of thought leaders — heads of state, government officials, clerics, business people, educators, journalists and ordinary people — on the accomplishments of PNoy’s administration, and how these impacted on the lives of Filipinos. It also includes eulogies by his Cabinet members.
Volume 2, which will be launched in early October, will comprise personal memories from PNoy’s family, close friends, household staff, speechwriters and close-in staff.
Salamat PNoy is published by the Alliance of Women for Action Towards Reform (AWARE), which was founded in 1983 after the assassination of Sen. Ninoy Aquino.
Narzalina Lim, one of AWARE’s founding members, said the book aims to document the legacy of PNoy’s presidency. “It is a gift to future generations of Filipinos, especially the young, who we hope will be inspired by and learn from the good-governance practices of the PNoy administration,” Lim said.
The public is invited to join the launch by visiting bit.ly/salamatpnoylaunchor by logging into Zoom Webinar ID 894 2188 4471 with Passcode 768594.
The book will be available for free starting Sept. 1 from the websitebit.ly/salamatpnoy.
(You may e-mail me at joanneraeramirez @yahoo.com. Follow me on Instagram @joanneraeramirez.)