GCash announces inter-bank transaction fees effective October 1

It's now official

It's now official

GCash has officially announced its inter-bank transaction fees as it ends its waived period on September 30.

In a statement sent to WalasTech, the Ayala and Alibaba-backed financial tech company stated that they will charge users an amount of PHP 15 for every inter-bank transaction beginning October 1., 2020 That means all inter-bank transactions from GCash to any bank of choice will incur the said fee.

Below is the statement sent to WalasTech:

Effective October 1, 2020, selected commercial banks and Electronic Money Institutions (EMIs) using the InstaPay network will start charging a transaction fee when doing a fund transfer (cash- in transaction) into GCash. The transaction fee varies depending on the bank or EMI up to Php 50.00 per transaction.

To avoid paying a transaction fee, GCash advises its customers to link their BPI or UnionBank accounts to their GCash App. These fund transfers will remain free of charge.

In view of the above, GCash will charge a Php 15.00 fee per fund transfer (cash-out transaction) to a bank or EMI using the InstaPay network, effective October 1, 2020.

GCash, in a Statement to WalasTech, September 26, 2020

They also clarified that other services still remain as is and there will be no changes to fees. “All GCash-to-GCash Send Money transactions will remain free of charge. Other GCash services, including selected Pay Bills and Buy Load, also remain free of charge,” the statement said.

For those who want to still enjoy free fund transfers, the FinTech company is advising its users to link their BPI and/or Unionbank accounts for a more seamless transaction. The new charge is also now explicitly mentioned in-app, for all their users’ information.

GCash is among the many financial institutions ceasing the waived fees and will start charging customers for bank transfers beginning October 1. The bank transfer process normally used by banks and mobile apps is Instapay, which a user can send up to PHP50,000 per transaction for as many times during the day as allowed by the originating bank/mobile platform. You can check out our full list of banks and financial institutions charging inter-bank fees starting October 1 here.

Carl writes for WalasTech when he's not working full-time. Give him tips and/or leads at [email protected].