PNB extends P2B credit to Green GSM for EV taxi fleet expansion
What's the deal? Green GSM Philippines, the country's first all-electric taxi service, has locked in a strategic financing and digital banking partnership with Philippine National BankDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → (PNB). The deal includes P2 billion in credit facilities to fund electric vehicle acquisition and working capital, plus a digital payroll system for the company's growing driver base.
PNB's Corporate Account Portal System has already cut driver account onboarding from nine days to two, removing a key bottleneck for a labour-intensive business. The arrangement was agreed in December 2025 and formally announced as Green GSM prepares its next expansion phase.
Why now? Green GSM launched in June 2025 as the Philippine brand of Green and Smart Mobility (GSM), deploying VinFast electric vehicles across 10 of Metro Manila's 16 cities and districts. It has moved fast since: in March, affiliate Green Xentro began rolling out a 2,500-unit battery-electric taxi fleet in Rizal province.
In May, Green GSM announced agreements with 75 Philippine transport companies and cooperatives to deploy up to 18,497 VinFast EVs for passenger operations. The PNB financing gives the company balance-sheet capacity to move beyond pilot-stage deployments into commercially viable urban fleets.
PNB president and chief executive Edwin R. Bautista said banks are critical enablers of the transport sector's shift towards cleaner models, pointing to the role of finance and technology in supporting the wider operating ecosystem.
What could go wrong? The Philippines presents real constraints alongside rising demand for clean transport. Charging infrastructure remains limited, and capital-intensive fleet buildouts carry execution risk — especially at the scale Green GSM is targeting. Converting memoranda of understanding and cooperative agreements into actual vehicle deployments is far from guaranteed.
Electric taxi operators across Southeast Asia have struggled to move past small-scale pilots. Whether P2 billion in credit facilities is enough to underpin a fleet aspiring to nearly 20,000 vehicles remains an open question.
The signal: Green GSM is still at the early growth stage, according to Dealroom, which makes the P2 billion PNB credit facility a notable bet by a corporate lender on an unproven fleet model. Bank-backed debt financing — rather than venture equity — is increasingly how capital-intensive EV fleet operators in Southeast Asia are funding expansion, shifting risk onto balance sheets that depend on utilisation rates and driver economics holding up at scale.
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