GCash reports tenfold growth in subscriber base in 3 years

GCash has reported a tenfold growth in registered accounts to 20 million users over the past three years, bolstering its claim as the leading mobile payments solution in the country.

In an emailed statement, G-Xchange Inc. president Albert Tinio said that the company now has 20 million registered accounts, a tenfold increase from 2 million accounts registered in 2016.

“We first had to look at the pain points of our target markets and see if our platform provided real solutions. We determined that if real problems were solved, then adoption of GCash will be much easier to promote,” Tinio noted.

GCash services include buying cellphone loads; sending or receiving money; bills payments; online shopping; payments via quick response (QR) code; and booking movies via GMovies. 

The company, as well as rival PLDT Inc.’s Paymaya Philippines, have also partnered with Facebook on money transfers and bills payments.

“As long as my GCash account is linked to Messenger, I can pay my Meralco bill through the latter,” said Tinio.

The company aimed to reach 10 million subscribers in 2018, banking on the scan-to-pay program in Ayala-operated malls.

GCash also saw a boost in subscriber base after its partnership with Ant Financial Inc., which currently has some 600 million subscribers in China alone via Alipay, and up to 400 million in India via Paytm.

“Because we’re working with such an experienced partner, GCash is able to build a very robust risk management system. We’re able to identify patterns and mitigate potential risks, especially of online fraud,” Tinio said. —Jon Viktor Cabuenas/VDS, GMA News