by Penny Angeles-Tan | Sep 11, 2021 | Business
Need to send money, buy prepaid load, or order food, but your GCash funds are running low? Now, it’s easier to cash into your GCash account as the country’s undisputed no. 1 e-wallet app, expands its network of merchants to a total of 60,000 active cash-in doors nationwide.
To reach more Filipinos nationwide, GCash has recently partnered with 9 more leading brands to establish additional cash-in kiosks at (number) of these companies’ branches: ExpressPay, DA5, Panalo Express, SouthStar Drug, Robinsons Supermarket, Shopwise, The Marketplace, Robinsons Easymart, and No Brand. In addition, customers may conveniently cash in their GCash wallets through top outlets, such as SM, Palawan Pawnshop, Villarica Pawnshop, Ministop, Puregold, and Cebuana Lhuillier.

Martha Sazon, GCash President and CEO
“Our goal is to make Filipino lives better every day,” said Martha Sazon, GCash president and chief executive officer. “Our cash in outlets is one of the essential solutions that GCash offers consumers, especially during the pandemic. With 70 percent Filipinos still unbanked, it’s always been our goal to expand our partner merchants to house more cash in outlets all over the Philippines, making topping up GCash wallets accessible to more Filipinos.”
With more cash in partners all over the country, GCash users will have lesser trouble in finding the closest outlets to them — allowing them to enjoy the many useful services on the app. For instance, for all their lifestyle and essential needs, they can browse through GLife, the e-commerce feature within the GCash app that allows users to shop exclusive deals from 35 brands across retail, food, gaming, entertainment, and transport.
GCash also aims to add more Cash In Doors in the future. Previously, GCash reached another milestone: GCash’s active user base is now at 46 million – a more than 20 million increase from January 2020. With more Filipinos shifting to digital wallets, GCash is continuously looking for more ways to best serve its customers while staying safe. For more information, visit www.gcash.com.
About GCash
GCash is the leading mobile wallet in the Philippines. Through the GCash app, customers can easily buy load; pay bills at over 600 partner billers in the app; pay at more than 7,000 online partners; send and receive money anywhere in the Philippines; pay using QR codes at over 130,000 partner merchants nationwide, save money while earning interest, and invest money at local and global funds — all through the convenience of their smartphones.
GCash is part of the portfolio companies of 917Ventures, the largest corporate incubator in the Philippines wholly-owned by Globe Telecom, Inc. GCash was recognized by The Asian Banker (TAB) in 2021 for its outstanding digital financial inclusion programs impacting more than 40 million Filipinos in the country today.
by Penny Angeles-Tan | Jul 6, 2021 | Business
With the current safety precautions, many Filipinos take in their everyday lives, it’s no surprise that many looks for less direct ways to interact with sellers especially in a pharmacy space. Drugstores may be the best source to purchase all your health needs, but safety is also an aspect many consider before they step out of the comforts of their homes.
Because of this growth habit, GCash, the country’s leading mobile wallet, has now made over-the-counter Cash In and “Scan to Pay” options available at Southstar Drug, one of the largest drugstore chains in the Philippines with over 559 stores — offering customers convenient and safe payment options when they buy medicine, personal care, and other essential items amid the pandemic.
“With this strategic partnership with Southstar, which has so many branches across the Philippines, now in place, Filipinos have a more convenient and safer way to infuse funds to their GCash accounts,” said Martha Sazon, President and CEO of GCash. “Making over-the-counter Cash In options available in all Southstar branches is proof that GCash is aggressively pursuing our commitment to make innovative financial services accessible to Filipinos from all walks of life, especially amid the pandemic.”
“Our customers rely on us now more than ever for their health and wellness needs; hence we continue to further innovate and offer services that will support access to these needs. This partnership with GCash will surely help us serve our customers with more ease and confidence. At a time when we need assurance, Southstar Drug will remain to be a partner for a healthy and safe lifestyle that Filipinos can trust,” said Christine Tueres, General Manager of Southstar Drug.
Southstar Drug carries a wide range of prescription and over-the-counter pharmaceutical products, and a variety of food, personal care, and health and wellness items. The health retailer operates stand-alone dedicated pharmacies to stores inside supermarkets and pharmacies with self-service convenience sections.
Customers just need to go to any Southstar Drug outlet and simply inform the cashier that they would like to Cash-In to their GCash wallet. Then, they just need to launch the GCash app, then tap “Cash In” and choose “Southstar Drug.” Next, just tap on the “Generate Barcode” button and show the generated barcode to the cashier. The cashier will then process and confirm the transaction, collect a payment, and print the receipt. A text confirmation will be then sent to the customer’s mobile number upon successful Cash In.
GCash has also made payments via QR Codes available at Southstar. For customers who also wish to buy items using GCash QR Codes, they simply need to log in to their GCash account, choose “Scan to Pay” as the mode of payment, and click on “Pay QR,” then tap “Scan QR Code.” Alternatively, they can also simply tap on the QR button on the navigation bar found at the bottom of the homepage, align their phone’s camera over the cashier’s GCash QR code to scan it, input the amount in the payment screen, tap “Next” and choose whether to pay with GCash or GCredit. After selecting the payment option, an SMS confirmation message will be sent to the customer’s mobile number as the receipt and proof of purchase.
With the availability of the GCash Cash In and QR Code feature at participating Southstar Drug branches, customers can easily load funds in their GCash accounts or pay without the need to carry cash or a credit/ATM card to avail of cashless payment.
“This is the next level of safety, convenience, and security in cashless payments because, with the GCash Cash-In and QR Code, they don’t need to type in the numbers or share their mobile numbers with others. And it’s available to anyone with the GCash app – that’s real financial inclusion for all Filipinos across the country,” said GCash GM for Business Center and Financial Products Gina Salgado.
For more information, visit www.gcash.com.
About GCash
GCash is the leading mobile wallet in the Philippines. Through the GCash app, customers can easily buy load; pay bills at over 600 partner billers in the app; pay at more than 7,000 online partners; send and receive money anywhere in the Philippines; pay using QR codes at over 130,000 partner merchants nationwide; save money while earning interest, and invest money at local and global funds — all through the convenience of their smartphones.
GCash is part of the portfolio companies of 917Ventures, the largest corporate incubator in the Philippines wholly owned by Globe Telecom, Inc. GCash was recognized by The Asian Banker (TAB) in 2021 for its outstanding digital financial inclusion programs impacting more than 40 million Filipinos in the country today.
by Penny Angeles-Tan | Jan 26, 2021 | Lifestyle
Leveraging the available digital tools and platforms to bridge their services to more Filipinos, mostly those that are in the far-flung areas, PCSO, in partnership with Minedomain, Inc., is set to launch ‘Birthday Panalo,’ a free and easy-to-use application with an entertaining game which will allow Filipinos to celebrate important dates in their lives, like anniversaries and birthdays, with exciting cash prizes.
Made for Filipinos, by Filipinos
Designed with Filipinos in mind, the Birthday Panalo app banks on the deep-rooted culture of Pinoys in putting value in commemorating special dates like birthdays and anniversaries.

Seavor Choy
While millennials are the main audience targeted with the launch of the app, Seaver Choy, Minedomain Inc. IT officer shared that ease of use is one of the main factors their team considered in developing Birthday Panalo to make it enjoyable for users across various age groups.
“We want the millennials to love this game so we went for what millennials want most — ease of use. We only put in the necessary elements for users to be able to do what they need to do fast and immediately,” he said.
“We focused on the user experience when we were developing by having iterating designs that had constant user feedback. Birthday Panalo has gone through multiple design changes based on different user feedback across different groups,” Choy added.
The core group which made and designed the Birthday Panalo app was an all-Filipino team composed of professionals from the country’s top universities including De La Salle University, Polytechnic University of the Philippines, and the University of the East.
“Birthday Panalo app was built with resilience and celebrations in mind. We made it fun and easy to bet but still overly secure,” Choy furthered, assuring users that the personal data and information they input within the Birthday Panalo app are protected according to industry standards.
Choy noted that the Birthday Panalo app has been tested by local and international cybersecurity companies like GLI, Bolton Labs, and Mantua, among others, to ensure that the app has the needed safety measures in place to avoid leakage of user data.
“Internally, we are also certified when it comes to how we operate and how we maintain the application,” Choy said.
Celebrations made even more rewarding
Within the app which carries design elements signifying Filipinos, ‘Kapanalo’ or users of the app can place a bet on a three-part number combination consisting of a month, a day, and a year. If the same combination gets to be picked during daily draws, a user can win as much as P100,000 as a cash prize.
After downloading the app, users can easily sign up using either their mobile phone or email address verified through a one-time password (OTP) sent by the app. Once done with the registration process, users can proceed to participate in draws for as low as 10 pesos which they can pay via mobile wallets like GCash and PayMaya. Winners of lucky date combinations which will be notified via the Birthday Panalo app may claim their prizes at the PCSO main branch in Mandaluyong City, or have them credited on their respective mobile wallets.
The Birthday Panalo app will soon be available for free download via the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store. Kapanalo from all over the Philippines can also look forward to playing the Birthday Panalo game in select PCSO outlets nationwide in the coming months.
by Penny Angeles-Tan | Jul 26, 2020 | Awards and Competitions
AXA Philippines, one of the country’s leading insurance providers, is giving its life and general insurance customers a chance to win Grab Food and Lazada vouchers and P100,000 via GCash.
To qualify for the promo, all you have to do is download the Emma by AXA app and register. Then, simply update your contact information through the app.
By downloading the Emma by AXA app on the App or Google Play Store, customers and non-customers alike also gain the added benefit of access to 24/7 emergency services such as ambulance, fire, police, and roadside assistance through the Rescue Line feature. The app also allows customers to monitor their policy online and conveniently access their funds, investments, transaction history, and AXA’s e-servicing features.
Ongoing until 15 August 2020, the offer includes free Grab Food vouchers worth Php200 every week to be raffled off to 300 life insurance customers and general insurance policyholders who update their information.
AXA also has more exciting prizes in store. Every week from 16 August 2020 to 15 September 2020, AXA will be raffling off Lazada vouchers worth Php1,000 to 50 customers weekly.
What’s more, AXA will also reward one life insurance customer and one general insurance customer the grand prize of P100,000 each via Gcash through an e-raffle. This promo is open to all policyholders who successfully complete the requirements from July to December 15, 2020.
Get a chance to win these amazing prizes by simply updating your contact information via the Emma by AXA app. For more information, visit https://bit.ly/3jbvq4m.
by Penny Angeles-Tan | Feb 22, 2020 | Business

GCash President, Anthony Thomas
GCash, the leading mobile wallet in the Philippines, and 7-Eleven, one of the largest convenience store chains in the country, announced today a strategic partnership that will allow GCash account holders to pay for their purchases in 7-Eleven stores via the revolutionary Scan-to-Pay (STP) via Barcode feature in the GCash app.
With the growing demand for frictionless transactions, GCash and 7-Eleven are providing greater convenience and security to their customers by introducing the new payment option for physical purchases in 7-Eleven stores across the country.
“This partnership is anchored on the shared goal of enabling more Filipinos to participate in the digital financial landscape. By allowing 7-Eleven stores to accept GCash STP via Barcode payments, we are bringing the vision of building a ‘cashless Philippines’,” GCash President Anthony Thomas said.
How to use GCash’s Scan to Pay
To use GCash’s STP via Barcode, 7-Eleven customers only need to generate their unique barcodes through the GCash app and allow the cashier to scan their barcodes to complete the transaction.
These two easy steps streamline the already-frictionless QR code system. With STP via Barcode, merchants do not need to have a QR key code, which the customer scans to transact. Merchants also need not have their own mobile devices to verify the payments, as STP via Barcode is already integrated into the merchant’s point-of-sale.

“After scanning barcodes to redeem promotions and reload accounts for over 5 years now, including taking payments from our CLiQQ wallet over the last two, we believe we have built the most convenient payment experience in the country, and that the time is right to open up our infrastructure to partners who share our vision.”
“We are pleased to partner first with GCash, whom we have been working with for several years. Many customers already visit us to cash-in their GCash wallets, now they can use those same wallets to pay for their purchases as well as participate in our CLiQQ loyalty program.” 7-Eleven President and CEO Jose Victor Paterno said.
Supporting BSP cashless vision
The partnership between the fintech leader and the convenience store chain pioneer also supports the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) goal of creating a more cashless Philippines starting this year by migrating 20 percent of the total transaction to non-cash means such as digital payments.
Already, based on a study conducted by the Better Than Cash Alliance, a United Nations-backed organization, the Philippines is close to reaching this target. According to the study, digital transactions now account for 20 percent of the total value of transactions, while 10-percent in terms of volume in 2018.
“As a strong government partner and the leader in mobile digital payments, we at GCash remain relentless in developing more products and services that will fit perfectly into the government’s plans for the country’s financial landscape. Our vision for 2020 is to continue to push for the development of the GCash platform to enable more people to participate in the digital financial revolution,” Thomas said.

photo credit goes to iconicmnl.com
STP via Barcode is now available in more than 2,800 7-Eleven stores in the Philippines. It is also available in the majority of Puregold outlets and Starbucks stores nationwide.
You must be logged in to post a comment.