GCash boosts security infra as cashless adoption rises

CEBU, Philippines — GCash is expanding its customer support and security infrastructure to address rising risks tied to scams, unauthorized transactions and account takeovers in the country’s fast-growing cashless economy.

The Philippine finance superapp said it has streamlined its support channels to help users report concerns ranging from fraudulent transfers and “wrong send” errors to compromised accounts, as digital financial services become more widely adopted across the Philippines.

The company’s in-app Help Center serves as the primary hub for customer assistance, providing step-by-step guides, transaction reviews and reporting tools designed to accelerate dispute resolution and reduce financial exposure for users.

The platform also uses automated alerts to flag failed or suspicious transactions, prompting users to take immediate action.

GCash’s virtual assistant, Gigi, handles routine account-related requests including reports of lost SIM cards or mobile devices, fund transfer requests and wallet limit upgrades.

More complex cases, including unauthorized transactions and suspected account takeovers, are escalated to live support agents through the company’s hotline.

In a statement, the company said its layered support structure is intended to shorten response times by directing users to the appropriate level of assistance, while easing pressure on human support channels.

Alongside customer support enhancements, GCash continues to expand security protections within the app. Its “Account Secure” feature restricts account access to a single device at a time, while “DoubleSafe” adds selfie-based identity verification for higher-risk activities such as logging in on new devices and processing large-value transactions.

Additional safeguards include biometric authentication, MPIN verification and one-time passwords for sensitive account actions.

GCash said it is also working with government regulators and enforcement agencies, including the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center and PH Payments Management Inc., to strengthen fraud detection and enforcement measures.

Gcash reported that it has blocked more than 4,900 fraudulent merchants associated with “quishing,” or QR-code phishing schemes, underscoring the scale of cyber fraud targeting digital payment users.

“Resolving a concern quickly starts with going to the right channel. We have built our support system so that users can find the help they need, whether it is a simple guide in the app or a conversation with a live agent,” Paul Velasquez, assistant vice president and head of customer service operations at GCash, said in a statement.

GCash reiterated that users should transact only through official channels and avoid sharing sensitive credentials such as one-time passwords, MPINs or account passwords, which the company said it never requests from customers.