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Philippine’s GCash mulls adding crypto support to its app

GCash is considering allowing its uses to buy, sell, and store crypto using the mobile wallet.

Image by: Wikimedia Commons

Fri, 04 Jun 2021, 10:17 am UTC

A mobile wallet in the Philippines might soon become the latest company to embrace cryptocurrency. GCash is currently exploring the possibility of adding cryptos such as Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) to its portfolio of financial services and products.

The company’s interest in adding crypto into its portfolio was revealed by GCash President and chief executive officer Martha Sazon, according to Philstar.com. According to the executive, GCash is considering allowing its uses to buy, sell, and store crypto using the mobile wallet.

“While we may be considered a disruptor now, it is important in this digital age that we should be mindful of all types of disruptions out there,” Sazon said. “It’s important to know what the trends are, whether locally and globally and crypto is part of that.”

Sazon noted that GCash is now the leading mobile wallet platform in the Philippines with over 40 million users, which represents around 40 percent of the country’s population. Should GCash push through with its crypto offering, it will join other major payment firms that already offer similar products such as PayPal and Square, according to Coindesk.

However, the CEO also pointed out that there are still requirements that need to be met before the company can offer crypto services. “Just like in any introductions, you need a platform, a working business model, a partner, so as soon as those are satisfied, perhaps,” Sazon said.

Sazon noted that active users of the GCash app use it more than twice a day. A third of the app’s actively monthly users have subscribed to at least one of the app’s financial products and services.

Aside from shopping and online payments, Filipinos have already learned to use Gcash for other financial needs such as insurance and investments. The app’s GInvest feature allows its user access to professionally managed local and global funds for as low as P50.

The app also offers insurance coverage via its GInsure feature. Users can access get themselves insured for as low as P300 for medical emergencies including COVID-19, dengue, and accidents.

GCash partnered with CIMB Bank for its GSave feature, which allows users to open a hassle-free savings account that has no fees, no maintaining balance, and no initial deposit. There are now four million registered accounts with GSave as of April.

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