Daven Tamayo

Competition Commission clears GCash parent's purchase of ECPay

Article (news)

Benise Balaoing

ABS-CBN News

MANILA -- The Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) has cleared Globe Fintech Innovations, Inc. (Mynt)&#x27;s acquisition of Electronic Commerce Payments, Inc. (ECPay).Under the agreement, GCash operator Mynt will buy 100 percent of the shares in ECPay from Globe Telecom, Inc. and Payment One, Inc. ECPay helps merchants process bill payments, and helps consumers with prepaid mobile phone loading, e-wallet and cash card loading, airline ticket payments, online payments, and credit card payments. Globe acquired ECPay in 2019.In a statement, the antitrust body said both Mynt and ECPay agreed to maintain pricing transparency to customers through the publication of transfer fees in various media platforms and sari-sari store partner outlets. They also committed to maintain separate IT systems. They also pledged to keep their services open and fair to all market players, maintain good service quality for customers and business partners, and work with regulators to boost Filipinos&#x27; awareness of digital payment services.Both Mynt and ECPay will also appoint a competition compliance officer to monitor their internal commitments.PCC said the parties formally signed an undertaking on May 13. The commitments are valid for a minimum of three years, which may be extended by the commission for up to five years based on changes and developments in market conditions.Globe first announced Mynt&#x27;s purchase of ECPay in October 2023.<div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/business/10/02/23/gcash-parent-mynt-acquires-ecpay" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">GCash parent Mynt acquires ECPay</a></div>Back then, the telco giant said the purchase would help GCash improve its services in the fintech space and further democratize financial access.

The Philippine Competition Commission has cleared Mynt's acquisition of ECPay.