GCash links up with US banks

MANILA, Philippines — Filipinos in the US may now transact cash-ins and remittances from more than 12,000 American banks through the GCash app, minimizing friction costs and easing money transfers.

E-wallet leader GCash yesterday said it has signed a partnership with payments enabler Meridian to expand the bank portfolio of the app in the US.

As a result, Filipinos in the US may now link their GCash profiles to their deposit accounts with US banks such as Bank of America, Chase and Wells Fargo.

The tieup enables GCash customers in the US to cash in using their American deposit accounts, easing the process for topping up money. The e-wallet will convert the US dollars into Philippine pesos using competitive exchange rates.

Every cash-in transaction will be charged a processing fee of $1 no matter the amount. In spite of this, GCash said its processing fee is cheaper compared to remittance fees in traditional outlets.

After this, GCash and Meridian plan to pursue a similar partnership for cross-border transactions in Europe, hoping to pilot the program first in the UK where GCash is already available.

GCash is on an international campaign right now in an effort to attract overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to use the app as a payment and remittance channel.

To date, GCash is available for use in 14 economies outside of the Philippines: the US, Canada, Italy, the UK, Australia, Japan, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Spain, Germany and Singapore.

GCash will also introduce its app in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia in the second semester of the year. As such, OFWs living in these territories may sign up their international numbers with GCash to access its financial services, from bills payment to money transfer.

GCash International general manager Paul Albano said the e-wallet will keep on looking for new partners in its quest to expand reach. For GCash, OFWs should be able to control their finances in every step of the way so that their hard-earned money is spent the right way.

For one, GCash allows OFWs to directly pay the utility bills of their families back home within the app, eliminating the need to send cash through remittance centers.

Apart from catering to the financial needs of about two million OFWs, GCash wants to serve as well the payment demand of Filipino tourists going abroad, as travel recovers to its pre-pandemic levels.