MANILA, Oct 19 — Japanese giant Mitsubishi Corp. said on Friday it is investing US$320 million in Philippine fintech unicorn Mynt, buying half of Manila-based conglomerate Ayala’s stake in the financial services company.

Japan’s largest trading company will purchase a 50 percent stake in Ayala-owned AC Ventures Corp., which has a 13 percent stake in Mynt, the Philippine company said in a separate statement.

The fintech unicorn had a valuation of around $5 billion in August and owns GCash, the Philippines’ largest mobile wallet service.

Mitsubishi said it expects the Philippines – where access to banking is low leading to a surge in e-wallet users – to have the highest population and economic growth among the 10 Association of Southeast Asian Nations countries.

"Although relatively few people in the Philippines have bank accounts, most have mobile phones and access to the Internet, which makes the Philippines an attractive market with significant room for growth in digital financial services,” it said in a statement. — AFP