1.3 M Filipinos boost green movement with GCash Forest

Growing a tree is grand work: it requires grit, a whole lot of TLC, and exceptional skills to keep it alive.

But green thumb or not, over 1.3 million Filipinos are now putting their tap-happy fingers to work to help the country increase its forest cover through GCash Forest, a special feature on the GCash app that strives to boost reforestation efforts while building a cashless nation.

GCash Forest allows users to grow virtual trees that will have real-life counterparts at the Ipo Watershed, a source of Metro Manila’s critical water supply that is losing forest cover at an alarming rate.

A personal carbon tracker, GCash Forest keeps tabs of how much emission subscribers have avoided by choosing greener activities, which have corresponding “green energy” points that accumulate when done frequently.

GCash: #LetsSaveTogether toward World Savings Day

According to the 2017 The Global Findex Database of the World Bank, a staggering 66 percent of Filipinos do not have a formal savings account. Leading mobile wallet GCash recently sparked an online discussion on this important issue, led by key influencers and brand ambassadors such as television host Robi Domingo admitting to their own stories of financial mistakes and not being able to save.

As a result, social media was abuzz in recent weeks with posts from netizens sharing their own financial woes with the #PlsSaveMe hashtag, illustrating how this reality hits close to home for Filipinos from various walks of life. The dialogue spanned the entire nation, with conversations and revelations in local dialects covering the different regions and provinces of the country.

Celebrities, millennials reveal the hard truth about saving in #PlsSaveMe movement

From TV actors to corporate workers to call center agents, Filipinos are coming out of the closet with stories of their bad spending habits and a call for help in managing their finances. 

In what could be the most honest and revealing ad yet about financial mismanagement, these young professionals are breaking taboo by talking about their lack of savings and their mishandling of money.

GCash Is The Leading Mobile Wallet Platform For Filipinos

There is no denying that mobile wallets is now the future of finance for many people including Filipinos who are now embracing the new culture of cashless payments for their daily transactions. And in the country there are now 6.4 Million people who are now using them mainly in the form of a mobile app like GCash.

With a recent numbers, GCash leads with 4.9 Million users that uses the app in various purposes aside from having a digital wallet in their hands. The convenience transfering funs, mobile loading, paying bills, and with GCash, the option to save, invest, and even plant tree via GCash Forest is now a working option.

Also interesting is that total money transfers are made by 49 Million people and 9.3  or around 20% are made with cashless transactions. Though many are still hesitant on trying this new way of doing transactions, many financial advocates are positive that eventually the majority of the population will be able to grasp this and use them in their daily lives.

Puregold, GCash launch cash-in, payment via barcode

Industry leaders Puregold, Globe and GCash have worked together to launch another innovative mobile-based service that will enhance their customers’ experience nationwide—the Cash-In via Barcode and Payment via Barcode.

The two services will be available in 368 Puregold branches all over the country, marking another milestone in the partnership between the three companies who have pioneered digital innovations in retail, telecommunications and financial technology in the Philippines. 

GCash launches Customer Protect program for users

Leading mobile wallet GCash, powered by fintech startup Mynt, provides users with increased peace of mind when using the app with the launch of its Customer Protect program.

Under the program, GCash users are assured of compensation for unauthorized financial transactions on their GCash app, GCash on Messenger or GCash Mastercard platforms arising from instances such as stolen mobile phones or identity theft. 

A user should file a report regarding any irregular transaction—such as unauthorized withdrawals or point-of-sale (POS) purchases—on GCash’s official customer care channels within 15 days from the date of the said transaction. Eligible and valid disputes can be reversed for amounts of up to P100,000.

Enderun launches cashless campus with GCash

With university campuses becoming a crucial venue for innovation, Enderun Colleges, a premier management and hospitality school in the Philippines, has gone cashless with GCash, the no. 1 mobile wallet in the country. 

Enderun’s cashless campus is powered by GCash’s scan-to-pay feature, which can be used in the bookstore, cafeteria, photocopying center and main cashier. 

Outside the school, Enderun alumni can avail of the GCash Enderun Alumni Mastercard for the same cashless convenience on campus. The card can be issued only to graduates of Enderun, which has been known to produce some of the most successful young restaurateurs and entrepreneurs.

Facts and Statistics That Lead To Creating Gcash Forest

To further understand why there is a need to have GCash Forest is because of the current state of Philippine biodiversity and environmental status. From what used to be a lush tropical archipelago, the country has progressed into a more commercial and industrial path which lead to big changes in the environment but caused a huge effect on nature itself.

But first let's dive deep into what Philippine Biodiversity is:

GCash Forest Launched To Plant Trees Virtually and Literally

By law, Filipinos are required to plant one tree per year known as the Arbor Day act of 2012. But we highly doubt many would have complied to this due to the complexities of planting even just a single tree, and also the time and effort need to make it happen. Yet the need for trees is a must now. With climate change and man-made development of land causes strains in the environment, the ecosytem, and eventually into the lives of many people as the weather changes and many face a huge change in the air, the soil, and all living things who rely on the earth.

GCash Partner’s with SEA’s Largest Cross-Boarder Payments Platform

In Photo (from L-R): Ray Refundo, President & CEO,
Qwikwire and Anthony Thomas, President & CEO, Mynt

Qwikwire - Southeast Asia's largest cross-border payments platform signed a deal with GCash - Country’s leading mobile wallet. The partnership is anchored towards innovation of the local real estate payments transactions process in the Philippines. A signing ceremony was held at the GCash office in Taguig last December 6, 2018 with Mynt’s Anthony Thomas, President & CEO and Ray Refundo, CEO of Qwikwire. 

In the Philippines, where the  real estate industry has been booming over the last 5 years, people still pay their real estate dues through the traditional Post-dated checks (PDCs), Bank Deposits, over the counter payments directly to property developers or some, to their brokers. Aside from these methods being time-consuming, fraud issues were also apparent as the current process is highly manual and lack security measures. These are among the commonly perceived challenges present in the current real estate payment system in the country. 

Enjoy CBTL With Your GCash With P100 Off and More Promos!

Having coffee and/or tea time is now getting more rewarding with the great partnership of GCash and The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf (CBTL). Their stores now are now accepting GCash as payment using the GCash App and QR code.

With these ease of transaction, we can now not worry of coins and bills when making transactions. And as a treat for Gcash users, you can get P100 off for a minimun spend of P115.You can also use this on the next transaction at the same merchant.

You can also process Alipay QR payments which gives international customers a quick platform to process their purchases without the need to do the long process of exchange and payment. This mode of payment is available in selected branches.

GCash, Xend Group partner for 1st QR-paid shipment service in PHL

In photo (from L-R): Bjorn Pardo, President and CEO of Xend Group,
 Mynt President and CEO Anthony Thomas, and JT Solis,
Xend Group VP for Partnerships and Business Development.

Globe Fintech Innovations, Inc, (Mynt) which operates GCash, the Philippines’ largest mobile money provider, and the Xend Group recently partnered up to enable GCash QR code payment acceptance on all Xend branches in the country. This will enable said branches to accept digital payments with GCash.

The Xend Group is among the latest string of partners to embrace the vision of a cashless future.