- GCash is the first mobile wallet in the country that uses blockchain technology for cross-border remittances
- Globe Telecom CEO notes that the collaboration will speed up international money transfers and make them more affordable
- Alipay and GCash will provide the service for free for a duration of three months
As Alipay expands in North America, the brand’s Asian arm is ensuring that the same services are offered at home. Targeting Filipino workers in Hong Kong, Alipay is now working with Philippine digital wallet GCash, one of the oldest mobile wallets in the Southeast Asian nation. GCash, owned and operated by Globe Telecom, is reportedly going to provide a new international money transfer option to Hong Kong’s 180,000 Filipino migrant workers through Alipay.
While in Hong Kong, Globe Telecom CEO and President Ernest Cu told reporters that the group is “the first to use blockchain technology for remittance,” adding that “using blockchain technology, e-money transfer will reduce the cost and speed”. Based on 2018 data, GCash is about to reach 10 million users in the Philippines.
Alipay Payment Services Hong Kong CEO Jennifer Tan said that the collaboration with the telecommunications company can solve the problem of cross-border transfers of many Filipinos in Hong Kong. Tan expressed that the move addresses the “long process of physically going to a remittance booth, queuing in line for hours and filling out forms.”
As millions of Filipinos go abroad to find work, GCash is also exploring other markets. However, Globe Telecom refused to disclose any specifics regarding their plans or where exactly the expansions will unfold. Currently, most Filipinos abroad send money home through Western Union as the international money transfer brand has branches around the country.
Globe announced on 1 July that the Alipay-GCash service will be free for a duration of three months whereby users can send up to 5,000 Hong Kong dollars a day. In a statement, Mynt CEO Anthony Thomas said: “For overseas Filipinos, sending money home to their family’s GCash mobile wallet will soon be the norm.”
