iGnite 2025: Future-forward attitude in GCash’s work of financial inclusion

Written by: Vaughn Alviar

GCash, the Philippines’ No. 1 finance super app, brought GCash employees face-to-face with cutting-edge digital technologies at iGnite Innovation Summit 2025 (iGnite 2025), encouraging them to leverage those tools to pursue “finance for all.”

The “futuremakers,” as GCash calls its employees, gathered with industry leaders, academics, young innovators and financial technology enthusiasts for the fourth – and, so far, biggest – edition of the summit, aptly themed, “Future 4Ward.”

“Today we celebrate innovation; not just how it shapes the day but how we can carry it forward into the future,” said Martha Sazon in her opening remarks. Sazon is president and CEO of Mynt, the holding company of GCash. 

“We’re here to break barriers together, and to raise the bar on innovation and financial inclusion,” added Pebbles Sy, Mynt chief technology and operations officer, during the welcome remarks. “This summit is our commitment not just to move forward but to move with intention; not just for GCash, but for the millions of Filipinos whose lives we touch.”

Established in 2004, GCash and the cashless ecosystem it has built over the years have become indispensable to Filipinos, both in the Philippines and across over 200 countries worldwide. GCash has been used by 94 million Filipinos, including the unbanked and underbanked.

GCash serves upwards of 6 million merchants, 9 million savers and 3 million borrowers. Solutions like GSave, GFunds, GInsure and GStocks make financial tools once out of reach now accessible anytime, anywhere.

Sazon also spoke of products available soon on the GCash app, including a virtual mentor that can teach users about wealth and features that hyper-personalize user experiences.

“And we’re just getting started,” Sazon said. “There’s still so much to unlock… Together, let’s build a future where every Filipino is empowered, included and ready for what’s next.”

“Absorb the ideas, ask hard questions, make connections, and take something home, whether it’s a bold idea, a fresh perspective, or a new partnership,” said Sy. “We’re not just here to witness the future, we’re here to build it.”

Immersive encounters 

iGnite 2025 was packed with opportunities to encounter the newest trends in digital technology, brought to the venue by over 70 industry partners. Booths and immersive experiences, insightful plenary talks and thematic inputs, among others, all helped participants witness the dynamic financial technology landscape worldwide. 

GCash prepared breakout sessions, divided into three tracks. With “Tech AI-volution,” participants discovered how artificial intelligence (Al) and hyper-intelligent systems revolutionized various industries. On the “Trust and Reliability” track, speakers presented tools that could lead to cyber resiliency, sustainable success and market differentiation amid cyber threats. Finally, “NextGen Enterprise” featured disruption that led to customer focus and value creation across industries.

On Track 1, Seven Seven showcased how it has prevented AI-powered tools like chatbots from responding to queries with high levels of hallucination, toxicity and bias. Dell was part of Track 2. It presented a product that could intelligently detect cyberattacks, describe how these unfolded and recover preattack backups. Teleperformance, on Track 3, noted how it used AI to execute training modules in classrooms so its trainers could focus on the needs of specific learners.  

The regulatory roundtable, which included agencies that built guardrails for digital technology, was concurrent with the breakout sessions. The Fireside Chat with Secretary Henry Aguda of the Department of Information and Communications Technology was a highlight.

Challenge to do more

The regulatory roundtable was one avenue where government agencies encouraged companies like GCash to collaborate with them.

At the Fireside Chat, Aguda said that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. saw digitalization as a top priority. 

Aguda is among the spearheads of Digital Bayanihan, a Philippine government initiative built on four pillars: a digital-first economy, inclusive technology for all, cybersecurity and data privacy, and transparency in governance.

He noted that the resources of the private sector were needed to realize the goals of Digital Bayanihan. He implored the private sector to build lines that would connect last-mile communities to the National Fiber Backbone, which speeds up Internet connectivity across the archipelago. He also hoped the private sector could help DICT send its talents to upskilling opportunities.

In the keynote address, Undersecretary Joee Guilas, representing the Office of the Special Assistant to the President for Investment and Economic Affairs, noted that the Philippine government sought to “embrace the opportunities of technological change” to capture what could be trillions of pesos in economic value from AI and digital upskilling. 

While applauding GCash for its contribution to mainstreaming the national ID, he encouraged the company and other tech leaders to work with the government to harness the benefits of digitalization.

“We are excited to see how GCash, as a home-grown super app, will continue to evolve,” Guilas said. “We hope it will continue to enhance its features and systems, and act as a key partner in realizing the government’s goals for widespread financial and economic inclusion, bringing government services closer to the people, and opening new possibilities for business, investment, and growth.”

Stepping up with partners

As GCash stays true to its advocacy of financial inclusion, partners like Amazon Web Services (AWS), Alibaba Cloud, Ascendion and Oceanbase commit to continued partnership with it.

Joel Garcia, technology lead for strategic initiatives for ASEAN at AWS, said GCash was a great equalizer. He also acknowledged how “it’s enabled a whole bunch of other financial scenarios that we would not have thought possible.”

“Our mission statement is engineering to elevate lives, which is using the power of agentic AI and software engineering to elevate lives on a day-to-day basis,” said Manan Mehta Sr., vice president at Ascendion. “One thing which we find very fulfilling in this partnership is the sheer improvement in the lives of day-to-day, various transactions that Filipinos do and not just here in the Philippines but also all over the world.”

Allen Guo, country manager for Alibaba Cloud Philippines, said it was important for their company to join iGnite 2025 to deepen their partnership with GCash, a company he praised for embracing cutting-edge technology for an authentic vision of financial inclusion. 

“[We are] also extremely fortunate to … partner with companies like GCash as part of this journey to empower and create financial inclusiveness for people across the planet,” said How Hong Chia, general manager at OceanBase. “It’s really empowering people, and … providing inclusive access for all.”

Inspired futuremakers

Positive remarks from futuremakers are an even bigger motivation for GCash to organize more iGnite events and continue working toward finance for all.

“This was our first time joining iGnite, and what stood out was how grounded the theme was in real-world impact,” said Gabriel Ivan Calub, who led the team that won the Hackathon Demo Day, an event that got employees to pitch possible upgrades to the GCash app. 

He noted: “The challenge of empowering financially underserved Filipinos through access, livelihood or education really pushed us to think beyond just tech. It wasn’t about building what’s cool, it was about building what’s needed. The entire experience felt less like a competition and more like a call to action. That mindset made all the difference.”

Calub’s team won with “Gabay” or “Gabby,” an AI-powered companion that would help persons with visual impairments and age-related limitations navigate the app. 

While winning did not guarantee Gabay’s implementation, Calub said, the feat secured him and five other teammates tickets to the Apsara Conference, an annual cloud-computing and AI event in China.

“Thank you, GCash, for giving us a platform … not just to showcase ideas but to build something that matters. Gabay started as a simple concept, but through this experience, we saw how innovation can truly create impact,” Calub said. 

“We hope that through GCash, more Filipinos can finally access the financial tools they need to live independently and confidently,” he ended

ADVT.