GCash: Its Benefits and How to Set It Up

A digital wallet holds an equivalent amount of peso in real life. You put your money in it and can do a plethora of digital transactions with it, just as you would in a physical store or payment outlet. The concept of e-wallets was first introduced to the Philippines by GCash, a local app that you can install on any of your device via Google Play or App Store. GCash is under Globe Telecom Inc., a major provider of telecommunications services in the Philippines.

GCash has brought an unprecedented level of convenience and ease in doing online transactions, and has since been popular among device users over the years.

What is GCash?

The GCash app allows you to pay your bills, purchase goods and services and even send or receive money wherever you are with just a few taps. Right now it has 20 million registered users and over 63,000 partner merchants in the country, revolutionizing the way Filipinos transact.

Benefits of using GCash

1. Pay your bills – to make things even easier, GCash allows you to save your preferred billers and billing details on the app and can set a monthly reminder so you never oversee another due date
2. Book movies – skip the queue and straight to the theaters of your favorite Ayala Malls, SM Supermalls and Robinsons Malls
3. Buy load – purchase load for any network and possibly earn a 5% cashback. You can also take advantage of the Borrow Load feature of the app, with two days to pay back the amount (no interest or service fee).
4. Buy things in real life and in the Internet – The GCash online shopping feature allows you to shop from local and international online stores. To avail of this feature, apply for American Express Virtual Pay through the GCash app with your email or get a GCash Mastercard for just P150
5. GCash  cash in and cash out – you can send money to other GCash users in a variety of ways. The Send Money To Bank Account feature allows you to do GCash cash in from any partner bank or from another GCash wallet with no additional charges no matter what network you’re using. In this feature you can have GCash to Paymaya and GCash to Paypal money transfers, along with other partner bank or digital wallets. This can be done vice versa as well.
6. Plant a tree – by using the GCash app, you can reduce your carbon footprint. GCash Forest is a new feature that gives you the power to plant and grow real trees in Ipo Watershed which is located within the Angat Watershed Forest Reserve in Norzagaray, Bulacan.  Learn more about it here.
7. Others:

• Get deals via vouchers
• Receive remittances
• Invest your money
• Open a savings account and save money
• Buy gaming related currency
• Support NGOs
• Pay your tuition
• Get a line of credit
• Split your payments with other GCash users
• Pay your taxes and dues to the government

How to use GCash

1. Create a GCash account.

Registration can be done in four ways: through the GCash website, GCash mobile app, Globe *143# SIM menu, and Facebook messenger.

2. Verify your GCash account.

GCash uses the “Know Your Customer” (KYC) process of validating the identity of its users. It is a one-time validation procedure required by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). There are three levels of verification:

• Basic – allows you to use GCash without verification but the services available to you are extremely limited.
• Partially/Semi Verified – with this level, you can have access to more GCash services like Send Money and Cash-Out.
• Fully Verified – enables you to have access to all the GCash services such as sending money, cashing out, receiving international remittances, using GCredit, cashing in (through PayPal, debit cards, or banks), etc

To verify your account, you need to

1. Prepare 1 valid ID – You can use any government-issued IDs for this. Company IDs and student IDs are also accepted.
2. Verify your account through the GCash app or an authorized GCash outlet – via the GCash app or through one of the various GCash partner outlets.
   • Globe stores
   • Bayan Center
   • SM Business Center
   • Cebuana Lhuillier
   • 7-Eleven CLiQQ kiosks
   • Puregold
   • RD Pawnshop
   • Tambunting Pawnshop
   • Villarica Pawnshop

3. Load your GCash wallet.

To top up or load your GCash account, you can browse through mobile payment facilities available in the GCash app or go to any GCash Partner Outlets (GPOs) like Globe Stores, SM Business Center, Villarica Pawnshop, and 7-Eleven Cliqq Kiosks, just to name a few.

A newly registered and fully verified GCash account has a monthly wallet limit of Php 100,000 each for cash-in/incoming and cash-out/outgoing transactions.

Here are the mobile Facilities and Online Banking Partners affiliated with GCash:

1. 7-Eleven Barcode
2. MoneyGram
3. Western Union
4. BPI to GCash
5. PayPal to GCash
6. RCBC to GCash
7. Mastercard/Visa Debit to GCash
8. UnionBank to GCash

You can always cash out directly from your e-wallet from these GCash partner outlets:

1. Bayan Center
2. SM Business Center
3. Puregold
4. RD Pawnshop
5. Tambunting Pawnshop
6. Villarica Pawnshop
7. Robinson’s
8. Expresspay

GCash hotline

If you have any concerns regarding GCash, you can contact their customer support by submitting a ticket through the GCash hotline at 2882.