Privacy Notice
Hello! GCash takes your privacy very seriously. We want a safe digital and financial space for overseas Filipinos, so we work hard to protect your personal information. We do this in a way that follows not just the laws and standards in the Philippines, but everywhere we operate.
This privacy notice tells you how we handle your personal information. Our goal is to be clear about what we do and why we do it. We always try to do things in the right way. Here, we explain how we collect, use, share, keep, delete, and protect your information. We'll also explain how you can control what happens to your information.
GCash Overseas is a digital wallet for overseas Filipinos. It makes your financial and lifestyle tasks easy. Through our partners, you can send money to your loved ones in the Philippines, pay bills, shop online, and buy things using GCash Overseas.
You can learn more about what you can do with your GCash Overseas account on our website.
- To confirm your identity (Know-Your-Customer or KYC Information)
Before we can create a digital wallet for you and let you use our partner services, we need to know who you are, as required by law. We also need to keep track of transactions and report any suspicious activities to financial regulators. This is because of rules against hiding the real source of money that may have been obtained illegally (money laundering).
- To provide our financial and lifestyle services
We collect your personal information so you can enjoy our services easily and instantly. For example, when you cash in through GCash Overseas from our online remittance claim partner, we ask for the expected amount, money transfer control number, and your country of birth. We collect these details so we can verify your transaction before adding the amount to your wallet.
- To personalize our products and services
We collect and analyze your personal information to tailor our services just for you. By understanding what you like and need, we can recommend products, customized services, and personalized features that make your experience even better.
- To carry out product and market research
We may use your personal information to find trends and patterns in the market so that we can create new products and improve our services. For example, we will soon offer a way for you to send food, groceries, or gifts to your loved ones in the Philippines , and other services to promote financial inclusivity for all overseas Filipinos. We are able to introduce these products because we study your needs.
- To manage risk and prevent potential fraud and crime
We do risk analysis and fraud prevention to protect you, our partners, and our business. For example, to stop someone else from taking over your GCash Overseas account, we may collect and look at your facial image, transaction histories, and other personal information. To learn more about our DoubleSafe security feature, please visit our website.
- To improve our customer service
Our Customer Experience Management Team may need to collect your other personal information to answer your questions better. Also, we record your chats to improve and train our team.
- To enhance your GCash App’s performance
To give you the best possible experience and value, we may use your personal information and study how you use your app to make our services even better.
- To send you updates and other communications
We may use your personal information to send you important updates about your account, the services you use, new features, security alerts, and other relevant communications.
If you decide to open a GCash Overseas account, we will collect, process, and share various types of information. Don’t worry, we will only keep and use them for as long as needed to satisfy the purposes they were collected for or to meet legal requirements.
- Identification (Know-Your-Customer) Information: When you open a GCash Overseas account, we collect your personal details. These include your full name, gender, address in the Philippines, current in the Philippines, mobile number, email address, birth details, citizenship or nationality, government-issued ID numbers, your photo, and signature. If needed, we might also ask about your job, marital status, income, and other information, as required by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) regulations.
We keep your identification information for 5 years after the last transaction you made using your GCash Overseas account or after you close your account.
- Financial Information: If you link your bank account to your GCash digital wallet, we may collect your bank account and online login details.
We keep your financial information for 5 years after the last transaction you made using your GCash Overseas account or after you close your account.
- Contact List: If you use our services to send money or mobile loads to your contacts, we may collect information from your address book.
The GCash App keeps your contact list for as long as you have it.
- Third-Party Information: We collect information about you from other sources to improve our services. For example, for transaction processing, identity verification, and fraud detection.
The length of time we keep your third-party information varies.- Identification Information: These are kept for 5 years after the last transaction you made using your GCash Overseas account or after you close your account.
- If relevant to an ongoing investigation: These are kept for up to 10 years after completion of investigation or depending on the court's order.
- Device Information: We collect details about the device you use to access your GCash Overseas account, such as the type of device, identification number, time zone, language setting, browser type, and IP address. We use the device information to improve your GCash app’s performance.
We keep your device information for at least 90 days in our active records and up to 3 years in our backup records.
- App Use Information: We gather information about how you use your app and website, such as the pages you visit and the activities you do. We do this so that we can personalize your GCash app experience and provide you enhanced services.
We keep your app use information for at least 90 days in our active records and up to 3 years in our backup records.
- Biometric Login Information: We collect biometric information stored on your device to access your GCash Overseas account. We may also collect your facial image for our DoubleSafe security feature. To learn more about DoubleSafe, please visit our website.
The GCash App keeps your biometric login information for as long as you have it.
- Geolocation Information: We collect your location information to improve our services, for fraud and crime detection, and for marketing purposes. Some features might not work correctly if you don’t share your location. You can manage this in your device settings.
If your geolocation information is relevant to an ongoing investigation, we keep it for up to 10 years after completion of investigation or depending on the court's order.
- Information you provide when you get in touch with us: When you contact us by chat or email, we record our conversation and collect details about you and your concerns. Additionally, we take photos at events you attend. If it refers to identification information, we keep the information you provide when you contact us for 5 years after the last transaction you made using your GCash Overseas account or after you close your account.
- Online or network activity information: We collect information about your interactions with our app, website, advertisements, social media pages, and other digital platforms. We use this information to improve your GCash App’s and GCash website’s performance. We also evaluate how we communicate with our users and improve our services.
We keep your device information for at least 90 days in our active records and up to 3 years in our backup records.
- Social Media Information: We collect information when you interact with us on our official social media pages (Facebook, Twitter, Tiktok, and Instagram). This can include your ticket number, mobile number, name, photo, and other information related to your inquiry.
The length of time we keep your social web information varies.
- Identification Information: These are kept for 5 years after the last transaction you made using your GCash Overseas account or after you close your account.
- If relevant to an ongoing investigation: These are kept for up to 10 years after completion of investigation or depending on the court's order.
We collect your personal information in several ways:
- Direct Interactions: We collect information when you create a GCash Overseas account and provide your personal information to use our services, contact us for assistance, and others.
- Via Our App and Website: We collect information when you open a GCash Overseas account or use any of our services such as Pay Bills and Buy Load.
- Through Various Channels: We collect information through various channels, including through online forms and app pages managed by us or our service providers. For instance, when you Cash-In your GCash Overseas account via our partner’s website and select GCash as recipient, we will collect your information to process the payment.
- From Our Partners and Affiliates: For example, we may receive information from other companies whenever they use GCash to offer their services to you.
- From Our Social Media Platforms: We collect information when you interact with us on our official social media pages or when you participate in our contests.
- By Granting Permissions on Your Mobile Devices: We collect information when you enable biometric login or grant access to certain permissions for services like Buy Load and other marketing activities.
- From Other Third Parties: For example, we may receive your personal information when you ask another company to transact with us or when you request them to send your personal information to us (exercise of your right to data portability).
- From Your Friends, Family Members: For example, we collect information when your friends include you as a reference or contact person in their account.
We partner with different government agencies and private businesses to provide a wide range of financial and lifestyle services. Sometimes, we need to securely share your personal information with them to give you the services you asked for:
- GCash Affiliates: Different companies affiliated with GCash work together to provide our services.
G-Xchange Inc. (GXI) is the main company that runs GCash. Another company called Globe Fintech Innovations, Inc. (GFI or Mynt) owns GXI.
- Financial institutions and credit investigation agencies: To consistently provide you with high-quality services, we may share your personal information with other trusted financial institutions. This helps us deliver the services you requested, confirm your identity, evaluate your creditworthiness, manage risks, prevent fraud and crime, and more.
- Partners: GCash may collaborate with different businesses to offer you a broad range of financial and lifestyle services. For instance, if you use your GCash App to pay your bills, we may share your personal information with the billing company you chose. If you participate in a promotion with our partners, we may share your promo subscription and redemption records with them. To know who our partners are, please visit our website.
- Service Providers: We also share your personal information with trusted service providers who assist us in making our services seamless and efficient. They help us in various ways, such as answering your questions, analyzing information, managing risk, preventing fraud, processing payments, and more. They play a big role in making sure the GCash App runs smoothly for you.
- Fraud and crime prevention partners: We are dedicated to protecting you and other GCash users from fraud and other crimes. By sharing some of your personal information, we contribute to a safer and more transparent financial system, protecting you and the broader community.
- Law enforcement agencies, regulatory bodies, and courts: GCash may share your personal information with law enforcement agencies, regulatory bodies, courts, and other public authorities. We will only do this if required by law or to protect our rights, prevent fraud, and ensure the safety of GCash users and the public.
- Changes within GCash: If GCash joins with another company, or if another company buys us or our assets, we might have to share your personal information with that company. If this happens, we will make sure to tell you ahead of time if your information will be handed over to another company or if there will be new rules about keeping your information private.
We make sure to destroy your personal information securely so it can't be retrieved or used. We do this by following security measures that are standard in our industry. Once laws or regulations no longer allow us to keep your personal information, we start to delete them.
For physical records, we destroy them by shredding. For information stored on electronic media like tapes and hard drives, we completely erase them using secure wipe solutions so they can’t be read. This makes the information unreadable and unusable without authorization.
Your trust and privacy are important to us. Hence, we aim to be transparent about how and when we share your information, all while ensuring its safety and security.
There can be risks when you create a digital wallet. Someone might attempt to take control of your account (account takeover), pretend to be a family member to trick you into giving away your personal information (social engineering), or even use your cellphone without your permission (hacking). We want to keep your details safe so they won't be used the wrong way, get lost, or be accessed by someone you didn't allow. That's why we've added security measures to help protect against these dangers. These security measures include:
- Restricting access: Only certain people are allowed to see your personal information.
- Encryption: We code your personal information to keep it private when it’s being stored and sent. Encryption is like turning your information into a secret code, which can only be understood by those who have the key.
- Multi-factor authentication (MFA): We use MFA in the GCash App. This means you need more than one factor before you can access your account. For example, if you want to link a new device to your GCash Overseas account, you need to use a one-time password (OTP), enter your Mobile PIN, and perform a selfie scan. We also use biometric login.
We regularly check how information moves into and out of our computer systems to make sure it’s protected. We enforce organizational, physical, and technical security measures aligned with recognized industry standards.
If we give your personal information to another company to help us with our services, we make them sign a special agreement. This agreement makes sure they follow the same rules we do to keep your information safe.
Additionally, we advise you to stay vigilant and always protect your passwords. Inform us immediately if you suspect your passwords have been compromised. Never share your MPIN or OTP. For more information on protecting your GCash Overseas account, visit our Help Center.
When decisions are made about you using computer systems without human involvement, it’s called a process known as “automated decision-making.” We use automated decision–making processes in GCash Overseas accounts, like when we check the information you provide to prevent fraud. We also use this to ensure that the services intended for Overseas Filipinos are enabled to GCash Overseas accounts.
You have several rights under the law:
- You can be told about how we handle your personal information (right to be informed).
- You can access the personal information we have about you (right to access).
- If we're processing your personal information based on consent or legitimate interest, you can object (right to object).
- You can ask us to stop, withdraw, block, delete, or destroy your personal information (right to erasure or blocking).
- If your information privacy rights have been violated and you've suffered damage, you can claim compensation (right to damages).
- If you feel that your personal information has been misused or your privacy rights have been violated, you can file a complaint with the National Privacy Commission (right to file a complaint).
- You can dispute and have any mistakes or errors in your personal information corrected (right to rectify).
- You can ask us to securely move, copy or transfer your personal information from one company to another (right to information portability).
For more information about your privacy rights, you can visit the National Privacy Commission’s website to look at resources about the Rights of Data Subjects.
We'll handle all your requests to access, correct, or move your personal information unless there are legal reasons we can't. You can ask for a copy of any personal information we have about you. If you find a mistake, you can ask us to correct it
We value your thoughts, feedback, and requests. If you need to talk to us, call us at 2882 (Customer Care).
We periodically update this notice to provide you with the most recent information on how we protect your personal information. Our goal is to keep up with the latest rules about data privacy and advancements in security technologies. We recommend that you visit this page often to stay informed of any updates we make.
Last updated: 1 March 2024
