Gcash for foreigners

Welcome Glongshore to the forum.

There are plenty of threads on this topic here if you want to search. For me I have had Gcash for 4 years or more, Aussie passport holder and the only problem I had was uploading my ID's about 8 times, the better half sorted it out very quickly by lowering the resolution. Works fine for local internet, phone and power bills even credit to other phones, setting it up takes a little time but I wouldn't be without it.

Good Luck.

Cheers, Steve.

A friend who used Gcash had problems with an unjustified shortfall, as well as high cash withdrawal fees.  I switched to Paymaya, it seems to be more reliable, with cheaper cash withdrawal fees.

Never had an issue with Gcash but I just pay bills and never withdraw cash, we only load P8K per month and no fees from them but generally 2 pesos each bill we pay.

Cheers, Steve.

I have GCash account for 2 years and I use it only to pat utilities bills.  I have had no problems.

    A friend who used Gcash had problems with an unjustified shortfall, as well as high cash withdrawal fees.  I switched to Paymaya, it seems to be more reliable, with cheaper cash withdrawal fees.        -@renatoserrapani

I have both Maya and Gcash, never really looked at fees but will say MAYA is very reliable and user friendly. I prefer MAYA but there is one bill I pay online that only uses GCASH. Once at a coffee shop in Cebu, I paid a bill GCASH by QR code on my phone...pretty cool but now with the GCASH card, I am not sure that will be such a popular pay option in the future as it seems complicated for people. Also, I have experimented with using MAYA visa debit at ATMs and it works well. It is a great secondary backup if our USA bank's ATM card is expired, lost or cancelled due to fraud; just use remitly or wise to transfer your funds for ATM withdrawal to MAYA or your GCASH card. Sometimes it takes a long time to receive our US bank replacement cards here because our kids have to receive them and drive to the DHL outlet which can be a pain as they are still workjng and busy, so, it can take a while. Thus, temporary backup ATM cards are important. It could even become permanent for us.  I know that we can access our funds in cash by other methods than ATM like lhhullier, lbc, palawan even western union etc. but we still prefer ATMs by force of habit I guess. We do not have to pay the foreign 250php fee per 10000php withdrawal with our usa credit union. Maya and Gcash are domestic so the 250php ATM fee should not apply either. To back that up maya and gcash cards, you can have spouse or partner get their own maya and gcash cards. Once banks realize we can replace their debit cards this way, maybe they will be more open to fedex-ing or DHL-ing replacement cards to foreign addresses.

@danfinn

I paid a bill GCASH by QR code

QR codes which were adopted early in Asian countries are vulnerable to fraud and should be double checked when scanning for URL authenticity. Its the latest scam.

I lost a hundred bucks using GCash. I prefer Maya.

    I lost a hundred bucks using GCash. I prefer Maya.
   

    -@Moon Dog

I think MAYA is a better user experience than GCASH.

    @danfinn
I paid a bill GCASH by QR code


QR codes which were adopted early in Asian countries are vulnerable to fraud and should be double checked when scanning for URL authenticity. Its the latest scam.
   

    -@Lotus Eater

It is an interesting way to pay. As I recall, you pull up globe app, generate qr, store reads it and charges your account. I don't know how easy it would be for a criminal to generate a QR code charging to your account, I suspect it is pretty hard but if somebody did steal your money that way, I know that the default globe position would be "Too bad you lost your money". It looks like MAYA has the same thing but I have never seen a seller using it. In theory, not considering possible security issues, I like it a lot because you don't have to worry about cards getting lost, stolen or expired. 

Thanks for the replies

i have been asking my brother in law to make gcash payments to local businesses and just give him cash reimbursements but would rather not lean on him to do this(he never complains, but i still want to be self reliant)

i will see if doing the varification using my US drivers license will work

i am a mariner and away for periods of time so doing things like sending flowers or aniversary surprises always ends up a huge hassle without a gcash account to pay for it from offshore

My memory was jogged (old timers) and just confirmed with Ben. You will need to take a selfie holding your passport or DL, should tell you that when you apply, then lower the pic resolution as they don't like large files.

Good luck and you will enjoy.

Cheers, Steve.

        @danfinn I paid a bill GCASH by QR codeQR codes which were adopted early in Asian countries are vulnerable to fraud and should be double checked when scanning for URL authenticity. Its the latest scam.         -@Lotus Eater

It is an interesting way to pay. As I recall, you pull up globe app, generate qr, store reads it and charges your account. I don't know how easy it would be for a criminal to generate a QR code charging to your account, I suspect it is pretty hard but if somebody did steal your money that way, I know that the default globe position would be "Too bad you lost your money". It looks like MAYA has the same thing but I have never seen a seller using it. In theory, not considering possible security issues, I like it a lot because you don't have to worry about cards getting lost, stolen or expired. 
   

    -@danfinn

The QR code system was developed by a Japanese tech guy who candidly admitted that it was not a secure format and would have a relatively short 'shelf life' before the scammers cottoned on. Easy to duplicate and your phone will redirect you to a bogus URL site. QR codes have a role to play but make sure you use them selectively and in the right environment. 

@Lotus Eater The QR code system was developed by a Japanese tech guy who candidly admitted that it was not a secure format and would have a relatively short 'shelf life' before the scammers cottoned on. Easy to duplicate and your phone will redirect you to a bogus URL site. QR codes have a role to play but make sure you use them selectively and in the right environment.

The way that you described it is not how it worked for me. If you have GCASH, log on and press the QR icon. You will be given an option to pay with QR code qhere a QR code is generated on your phone and read by the seller. That code that my phone generated contains information to deduct from my balance. The way you describe it, my phone reads seller's QR code and I get directed to pay to a scam site. Not true, the code is generated on my phone. Check it out on your app. A criminal would need to generate a code to be read by a seller that would have seened to have come from my phone to rob from my GCASH balance. How difficult is that? Not sure but a lot more difficult than generating a scam code for my  phone to read. That would be a bit too easy don't you think?

@danfinn

I have never used gcash but came upon it on my last visit to the Philippines. Would I use it? No after reading that some users have been defrauded. If I use my bank cards I am covered on ANY fraud (at least under UK law) so why risk it?

The article below from a govt website highlights the potential pitfalls:

"Quick Response codes, better known as QR codes, are a very popular way to get information. QR codes are scannable barcodes that will direct you to a website.

There are many legitimate and helpful uses for QR codes, from paying for parking to viewing a restaurant menu. But since scammers often use QR codes to carry out their schemes, it's important for you to learn how to spot a fake!

Scammers create QR codes to trick people into visiting a fraudulent website or downloading malware that compromises their personal information.

For example, scammers may:

Cover official QR codes with fake ones on parking meters, menus, or magazines.

Send QR codes via email or text message pretending to be from delivery companies.

Request that you confirm your information due to suspicious activity on your account using imposter QR codes.

Place harmful codes on social media advertisements.

QR codes may look genuine, but they can redirect you to fake websites designed to steal your personal information. Here are some tips to avoid related scams."

Hello everyone,

Please note that some posts have been put aside from this thread.

Regards

Bhavna

I have been using Gcash for about 2 years, very rarely do i have any problems.

one of my clients pays me directly from BPI to my Gcash account and seldomly does it take more than 2 days when i know to expect my monthly fees.

To enroll with Gcash and to have a verified account for its more high-level features, you need to provide a national Id (your passport is fine), and of course, have a local phone number.

@bigpearl

Does the resolution issue cause the selfie error? I haven't been able to log in for months and have basically given up. Now when I try I can't even get to the selfie page.

GCash had a widespread problem with their "new" re-verification method. I kept retrying to get it to do face ID. It finally worked when I tried from another WiFi location, but I don't know whether that was a factor somehow.

@bizwizard

Thanks for the tip.

My apologies Phil for not replying earlier. I set up my account with Gcash with photo ID  in a selfie as well as a larger pic of my passport and Aussie drivers license. To access this account I simply punch in a password, works perfectly. Ben the same and no facial recognition like our phones.

Hope you get it sorted.

Cheers, Steve.

@bigpearl

The app hasn't ever accepted my selfie but their techs did get it accepted once manually but then the thing reset somehow and took me back to the selfie page. GCash has now stopped me from being able to verify with ID because they aren't accepting a foreign passport and are demanding an Icard which I don't have because I am a Balikbayan.