More than half of the Philippines’ online retail stock-market accounts are now represented by GStocks PH, underscoring how e-wallets are becoming a major gateway for Filipinos entering the local equities market.
Mynt, the parent company of GCash, said GStocks PH now serves more than 2 million Filipinos, with stock transactions facilitated through broker AB Capital Securities Inc. The company said this represents over 50% of all online retail stock-market accounts registered with the Philippine Stock Exchange.
The milestone points to a broader change in how Filipinos access investing. Instead of starting with a standalone brokerage platform, a growing share of retail investors can now open an investment account from an app they already use for payments, transfers and other financial services.
Online stock accounts continue to climb
The Philippine Stock Exchange recorded 3.64 million stock-market accounts in 2025, up 27.3% from 2.86 million in the previous year, according to figures cited by Mynt from the PSE’s Stock Market Investor Profile.
About 3.61 million of those accounts belonged to retail investors, while approximately 3.22 million retail accounts were maintained online through digital trading platforms and e-wallets.
Online retail accounts increased 30.5% from the previous year.
The trend was already visible in 2024, when the PSE reported that online accounts had surged 62% to 2.47 million. The exchange attributed part of that growth to digital platforms that made stock-market access easier for retail investors.
The brokerage is moving inside the super app
GStocks PH does not make GCash itself a stockbroker.
Stock transactions are facilitated through PSE-accredited broker AB Capital Securities, while GCash serves as the digital entry point where users can register, fund and access the service.
That distinction matters because the underlying investment activity remains within the regulated brokerage system. What has changed is the distribution channel.
Opening a brokerage account traditionally requires investors to choose a broker, complete Know Your Customer requirements and fund a separate trading account.
Through GStocks PH, fully verified GCash users can begin the registration process from the Invest section of the app and complete digital KYC without visiting a brokerage office.
This reduces one of the practical barriers between consumers who are interested in investing and the infrastructure required to actually enter the stock market.
More accounts do not necessarily mean more active investors
The rapid increase in investor accounts, however, should not automatically be interpreted as an equivalent increase in active stock trading.
Stock-market account figures count accounts rather than unique investors, meaning an individual can maintain accounts with more than one broker. An opened account also does not necessarily indicate that its owner trades regularly.
That makes the growth of GStocks PH significant as a measure of access and distribution, but not necessarily as proof that the same number of Filipinos are actively buying and selling shares.
The larger challenge is converting easier account opening into sustained participation, while ensuring new investors understand volatility, diversification and the risks of putting money into equities.
Investing is becoming another e-wallet service
GStocks PH’s scale shows how far Philippine super apps have moved beyond their original role as payment wallets.
Consumers can already use the same apps to save, borrow, buy insurance and invest. Brokerage access is increasingly becoming another financial service embedded within that ecosystem.
Mynt is also expanding its wider investment offering through products such as funds, bonds and planned access to international securities, further positioning GCash as an entry point to multiple types of investments.
For the Philippine stock market, that puts millions of potential investors much closer to equities than when opening a brokerage account required seeking out a separate platform.
The challenge now shifts from access to participation: whether putting the stock market inside an everyday finance app will translate into Filipinos investing regularly, understanding the risks and remaining in the market for the long term.
