For many Filipino micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), getting a business loan can be difficult long before the application reaches a lender.
Limited collateral, thin financial records, and little or no formal credit history can prevent otherwise viable businesses from qualifying for financing. This is particularly challenging for entrepreneurs operating small stores, market stalls, home-based businesses, and other enterprises where transactions happen daily but formal financial records may be limited.
Fuse Financing, the lending arm of GCash, is positioning digital finance as one way to narrow that gap by using transaction activity and other digital information to help assess businesses that may be underserved by traditional lending.
The approach is becoming increasingly relevant as more MSMEs accept digital payments and manage their businesses through digital platforms.
Turning digital payments into a financial footprint
One of the key ideas behind Fuse Financing’s MSME strategy is that a business’s digital activity can provide useful signals about its operations.
During the GoNegosyo MSME Summit 2026, Yu explains how GLoan Negosyo can support MSMEs daily businessoperations and sustainable growth.
Through GCash for Business, entrepreneurs can accept digital payments and manage transactions. That activity can help create a digital financial footprint, giving financing providers alternative data that may provide a clearer picture of business performance.
For businesses without extensive banking records or traditional collateral, this can potentially open another path toward formal credit.
Eligible MSMEs can access GLoan Negosyo through the GCash app, with financing of up to ₱350,000. Qualified merchants using the GCash for Business Portal can access loans of up to ₱2 million, with financing intended for needs such as inventory, working capital, and business expansion.
The model does not eliminate the need for responsible lending. Instead, it changes some of the information that can be considered when evaluating a borrower’s capacity and business activity.
Why the credit gap remains difficult
MSMEs account for 99.6% of businesses in the Philippines and employ more than 65% of the country’s workforce, according to Fuse Financing. Yet many continue to encounter barriers when seeking formal credit.
The Asian Development Bank has similarly identified access to finance as a persistent obstacle for Philippine MSMEs. In February 2026, the ADB committed a $30 million loan to Fuse to expand digital MSME financing, with particular support for women-owned businesses and enterprises in provinces with high poverty incidence.
The ADB financing also supports non-collateralized loans for farmers, market vendors, sari-sari store owners, and other MSMEs, including first-time formal borrowers.
That matters because the businesses that need capital the most are not always the ones that fit neatly into traditional lending requirements.
A sari-sari store may have regular daily sales but limited fixed assets to pledge as collateral. A home-based seller may have growing digital transactions but little conventional credit history. For these businesses, transaction data can become another piece of the financial picture.
Digital lending is becoming part of the MSME ecosystem
Fuse Financing’s strategy also shows how lending is becoming increasingly integrated with other financial services.
Instead of treating a loan as a standalone product, the digital model connects payments, transaction management, credit, and financial education within the same ecosystem. This can make it easier for entrepreneurs to manage the financial side of their businesses while gradually building a more visible financial record.
As of the second quarter of 2026, Fuse said it had disbursed ₱451 billion in loans to 11.5 million borrowers nationwide, with one in three borrowers classified as an NMSME.
The company has also emphasized that financial resilience requires more than simply giving entrepreneurs access to loans. Its programs include financial education initiatives designed to help business owners manage cash flow and use digital financial tools more effectively.
That distinction is important. Easier access to credit can help an entrepreneur restock inventory or fund expansion, but borrowing only becomes sustainable when the business can generate enough cash flow to repay it.
The next challenge is responsible digital credit
The growth of digital MSME lending also raises the bar for responsible financing.
Alternative data can help lenders reach customers who might otherwise be overlooked, but borrowers still need transparency around loan costs, repayment obligations, data use, and collection practices. Digital access should make financing more convenient without making it easier for businesses to take on debt they cannot manage.
Fuse has highlighted responsible lending and a digital collections process that follows a zero-tolerance policy against harassment.
For Philippine MSMEs, the bigger opportunity may therefore extend beyond getting a loan.
As more businesses accept digital payments, their everyday transactions can increasingly become part of a formal financial identity. That could make the gap between being a small informal business and becoming a financially visible enterprise narrower than it has been before.
For Fuse Financing, the strategy is ultimately about turning that digital footprint into a bridge: from transactions to financial records, from financial records to responsible credit, and potentially from short-term financing to longer-term business growth.
