13 August 2019
FExpands strategic partnership with GCash
MANILA - CIMB Bank Philippines (“CIMB Bank PH”) today announced that it has garnered 500,000 customers, approximately six months after opening its doors for business in the Philippines. The milestone was reached anchored on a strong proposition of co-creation and partnership between CIMB Bank and GCash, the No. 1 e-payments platform in the Philippines.
The all-digital, mobile-first CIMB Bank PH was launched in early 2019 with a goal of bringing a unique and differentiated banking proposition to Filipinos. Anchored on a DNA of strong strategic partnerships and solving customer pain points digitally, CIMB Bank PH had forged a partnership with GCash, to allow GCash’s customers direct, paperless and seamless access to savings account services, a product termed GSave. GCash is an e-payments platform owned by Mynt, the revolutionary FinTech startup of Globe Telecom, Ayala Corporation, and Ant Financial, an affiliate of Jack Ma’s Alibaba Group. This partnership is in line with CIMB’s ‘Invest and Incubate’ pillar under Forward23, the Group’s current mid-term growth plan.
Tengku Dato’ Sri Zafrul Aziz, Group CEO, CIMB Group who was in Manila to celebrate this milestone said, “CIMB Bank PH is surely one of the fastest growing banks in ASEAN, a wonderful achievement, and a strong testament of what can be achieved in the regime of digital-only banks. We are motivated by this and will continue to innovate for our customers. Well done to the teams.”
In line with this, CIMB Bank PH and GCash also announced that the GSave bank account will be exclusively offered only on the GCash platform. The companies also said they will be working together to make added suites of financial services products available to GCash customers in the future. These services will be announced in due course.
Zafrul added, “The partnership with GCash was central to us achieving this milestone. It is a live case study of a bank-tech partnership, a combination of banking expertise and technology platform plays, and the opportunities it allows both parties to access. I look forward to having CIMB Philippines develop more propositions with GCash as we further establish ourselves in the Philippines.”
Anthony Thomas, President and Chief Executive Officer of GCash affirmed its shared mission with CIMB Bank to increase accessibility of financial products and services for all Filipinos. “The acquisition of 500,000 users is a clear testament that the partnership between GCash and CIMB Bank through GSave is a success. We welcome this achievement and the deepening of our collaboration with CIMB Bank, and assure our users that we will continue to provide more innovative services to address the banking and financial needs of Filipinos who aspire for financially better lives for their families.”
The 500,000 GSave users are now enjoying the benefits of CIMB’s savings account, which is available as the Save Money feature on the GCash app. GSave offers an interest rate of three percent per annum, which is more than ten times higher than rates offered by most Philippine banks.
Additionally, GSave does not require an initial deposit or a minimum balance; nor does it impose service charges for transactions, greatly reducing the barriers for ordinary Filipinos to open and maintain a savings account.
To celebrate this milestone in both companies’ journey, and to truly help people get started with their savings, CIMB Bank PH rewarded Mr. Seigfred Barcelona, as its lucky 500,000th customer today, with P500,000, to be credited directly into his GSave account.