Team size: 28

What are the most significant cases or transactions that your legal team has recently been involved in?

As the leading fintech company in the country, GCash aims to empower Filipinos with digital financial services. Our legal team performs a variety of duties in different areas, including the resolution of customer and financial-related matters, as well as tasks related to process governance and human resources.

At GCash, we treat our customers as our North Star. That is why, when users have issues with our app or services, we respond in the best and fastest way possible. As such, the legal team has often been called in to take the lead in the settlement of customer complaints. In particular, the team has facilitated and successfully handled cases of executive escalations, including those filed with regulatory bodies. We have also filed criminal cases to prosecute erring individuals – to create a safe digital ecosystem for our users.

GCash is one of the very few profitable fintech companies in the world – achieving this through growth strategies that are focused on our customers’ needs. In relation to this, the legal team has also been involved in financial-related disputes and pursued and recovered financial obligations. It has won small claims cases and negotiated settlements which saved millions for the company.

In the most recent LinkedIn awards, GCash was recognised as one of the best places to work in the Philippines as we focus on collaboration, which is a core value of the whole organisation, especially the legal team. The team has contributed directly to this through its work in process and governance – reviewing the company’s code of conduct and drafting and disseminating workplace-related policies. Under human resources, the team has facilitated settlement to avoid full-blown labor cases. It has also handled employer-employee concerns and cases, including administrative processes.

As GCash continues to innovate towards its purpose of making Filipinos’ everyday lives better, the legal team has and will continue to be the organisation’s partner for change.

Looking forward, what technological advancements do you feel will impact the role of in-house legal teams in the future the most? Which have you found most useful in your legal team?

The automation of processes in the legal department would impact our work the most. At GCash, the processing of contract review and legal counseling via LegalHelpDesk and execution of contracts through Docusign have allowed the organisation to have a better, faster, and more efficient means of sending and signing documents.

This was particularly important during the height of the pandemic where the Philippines experienced one of the longest lockdowns in the world. As wet signatures were hard to get, the shift to paperless documentation became a must. Our digital transformation not only made things more seamless but helped strengthen our sustainability initiatives with the decrease of paper usage.

Why are in-house lawyers well-placed to drive change in their organisations?

In-house lawyers are well-placed to drive change in the organisation because, on a daily basis, they have to provide a solution beyond the legal answer. Since we are integrated in the organisation, the legal solutions must be long-term, effective, and end-to-end. We are also in a position to understand the real questions, have a deeper level of loyalty and accountability, and take more risks in driving change.

Beyond legal competence, a corporate legal team must be able to have the emotional intelligence to build relationships and leverage technology to drive high efficiency and productivity. In particular, they can build strong relationships with their business partners by focusing on soft skills and understanding business operations and risks. Also, constant alignment and communication are key in these relationships.

At GCash, we hire people regardless of their gender, age and background, creating a safe space for diversity and inclusivity to flourish. In the Legal Group, we have complemented the team with practitioners and future lawyers that look beyond these biases and are poised to become legal experts in the fintech field.