GCash, the Philippines’ top finance app and largest cashless ecosystem, has enabled cash-ins and remittances from a selection of over 12,000 US banks to any GCash account through its recent partnership with Meridian, an instant payments technology company headquartered in New York City. The feature is part of GCash’s strengthening of its international presence through a services expansion that caters to the digital finance needs of Filipinos based overseas.
The feature is available to all GCash app users who have US-based funds in accounts with banks such as Wells Fargo, Bank of America, and Chase, and thousands of others. US bank accounts must first be linked to a GCash account.
Upon cash-in from a US bank account, dollars are automatically converted to Philippine pesos using competitive foreign exchange rates and instantly deposited into the GCash wallet. Every cash-in transaction comes with a fixed $1 fee for any amount– as opposed to higher remittance fees through more traditional ways.
This seamless integration with US financial institutions eases the reliance on multi-application, fragmented remittance processes, which is another pioneering move for GCash within the Philippine financial industry, keeping more users’ money in the GCash ecosystem.
The new functionality is part of GCash’s global expansion, catering to about two million overseas Filipino workers as well as outbound Philippine tourists.
“We have been staying true to our commitment to support our kababayan abroad, empowering them to have more control over their finances and ensuring that their transactions are more convenient at every step of the process,” said Paul Albano, general manager of GCash International. “Our partnership with Meridian has led to this truly groundbreaking feature in service of Filipinos—and it is only one of many new GCash innovations we are developing for our countrymen, wherever they may be in the world.”
Will Haering, CEO of Meridian, said, “We are thrilled to partner with GCash, the leading fintech company in the Philippines, and we look forward to our service making a difference in the lives of GCash users. At Meridian, we are dedicated to developing financial solutions that improve everyone’s digital banking experience as well as, crucially, innovations that align with our mission of bringing the world closer together—two key goals that we share with GCash.”
GCash and Meridian plan to implement similar initiatives in the United Kingdom and throughout the European Union. By simplifying cross-border financial transactions, GCash is intent on revolutionizing the remittance experience for Filipinos at home and abroad, thus cementing its position as a leader in the digital financial services sector.
In addition to this, GCash announced in March that it has expanded its international reach and fully launched its global push following approval from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. Filipinos in 14 territories—the US, Canada, Italy, the UK, Australia, Japan, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Spain, Germany, and Singapore—can now use international mobile numbers to sign up for and use the GCash app. Kuwait and Saudi Arabia will follow suit in the next half of 2024.
