The Philippines anti-trust monitor said it approved the strategic partnership between Globe Telecom's Mynt and Ant Financial of Chinese internet billionaire Jack Ma.
Philippine Competition Commission Chairman Arsenio Balisacan said it took some time before the body decided on the deal because it had to look at Globes businesses to make sure competition laws are not violated.
The partnership, which marks Ma's first investment in the Philippines, was announced last February.
Analysts said the deal would infuse fresh capital into Globe Fintech Innovations Inc. (Mynt), which operates GCash and Fuse Lending.
Ant Financial's parent company, Alipay, and Ayala Corp. agreed to subscribe to new shares of Mynt.
The investment demonstrates the company's confidence in Mynt and its management team to upgrade digital financial services in the region, Ant Financial earlier said.
Re-disseminated by The Asian Banker from ABS-CBN News