GCash with Online and Offline Drugstores

Lately, I’ve noticed that more and more people have grown to become accustomed to having their orders delivered. I think this is or will be the new normal for quite some time, even after this quarantine ends.

As such, we have online shops becoming more popular. Drugstores are no different. I’ve thought of having a comparison of most if not all the offerings we have currently.

For some of these online drugstores, you can definitely pay using GCash via the debit card route (Mastercard or AMEX) but most offer cash-on-delivery.

Setting up GCash Mastercard / AMEX Virtual Pay

This is relevant if you want to pay using the GCash debit cards. However, this isn’t mandatory as there are other ways to pay if you wish.

How can I pay using GCash via debit card?

You can either use your enrolled GCash Mastercard or your Virtual AMEX card from within the GCash app itself.

How do I apply for a GCash Mastercard? How do I pay using GCash Mastercard?

You basically need to buy a GCash Mastercard and link it into your GCash app. Once you have your card linked, you can use it as a debit card for payment.

How do I set up my Virtual Pay AMEX Card? How do I generate a CVV?

You will need an email address to be able to apply for an AMEX Virtual Card from within the GCash app. The AMEX card is used for online purchases only and does not have a physical card counterpart.

What do I do if I get an error linking my AMEX Card?

Sometimes issues like this do happen when linking. This is more often than not a technical issue at the backend. We can wait and try again or if not, use our GCash Mastercard.

How do I put funds into my GCash account?

As the AMEX VP and GCash MC are both in fact, debit cards, you will need funds in your GCash wallet to be able to pay. You have lots of different options in cashing in, and you can also bank transfers (from any bank app to G-XChange, Inc. via Instapay) to fund your wallet.

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Buying from Online Drugstores

Researching for this particular topic yielded surprising results for me. There are more drugstores than I was prepared for.

Watson’s

You can buy from Watson’s either via Metromart (Google Play / iTunes), website, or app (Google Play / iTunes). Metromart’s convenience is the fact that you can pool your purchases from different stores into just a single order and delivery.

Delivery and Payment Details

• Watson’s Delivery Fees
  • Website and app – Php 65 Delivery Fee
  • via Metromart – Php 80 Delivery Fee, Minimum Purchase of Php 500
• Payment is via online payment using debit/credit card through IPay88 for website and app; for Metromart, debit/credit card payment is built-in the app.

Generika

You can buy from Generika only through Metromart (Google Play / iTunes). Generika is known for providing generic and self-branded over-the-counter medicines. Their selection of medicines is not that great, however. They have an app but it has no delivery capability nor inventory look-up, it only has a store locator, which is frankly useless because you can search for it via Google instead.

Delivery and Payment Details

• Delivery Fees via Metromart – Php 80 Delivery Fee, Minimum Purchase of Php 500
• Payment is via credit/debit cards within the Metromart app

Mercury Drug

This mainstream drugstore has a website, but still decidedly ancient in terms of leveraging technology. Their website is really heavy-handed on the forms you need to fill up, however, they’ve since updated and improved on their online ordering and delivery.

Delivery and Payment Details

• Supports delivery and pick-up, payment can also be processed on pick-up or online
• It takes time to process your order, as they process it manually
• Payment is via GCash, Paymaya, debit/credit cards

MedExpress

You can buy from MedExpress, but this is through their delivery hotline. Their website is not updated and is unintuitive in terms of user experience. I tried to sign-up using their Google sign-in functionality but it did not work.

Delivery and Payment Details

• The hotline is (02) 8333-3333 for Metro Manila, if not, you can refer to this directory
• MedExpress Viber hotline is 0998-583-6987
• You can also email them via pr**********@me********.ph
• Minimum purchase is Php 250, and Php 50 delivery fee for orders below Php 1000
• Supports debit/credit card payment on delivery, cash on delivery, bank deposit

Southstar Drug

You can order from their website, and ordering is straightforward. They also have inventory management which is on par with Watson’s. They don’t provide online payments though.

Delivery and Payment Details

• Shipping Fee is Php 99
• You can pay via debit/credit card on delivery, cash-on-delivery or via bank deposit

Rose Pharmacy

Rose Pharmacy is mainly based in Cebu and doesn’t have any branches in Metro Manila. Their website supports ordering and payment. Deliveries are handled by third-party providers like Lalamove, which makes the delivery fee variable depending on your location.

Delivery and Payment Details

• Delivery fee is variable (based on Lalamove)
• Supports debit/credit card payment on the site, or cash-on-delivery

AIDE

AIDE is an app (Google Play / iTunes) centered on providing primary care and personalized medical services. The company is partly owned by Ayala Corp, through its health-related subsidiary, ACHealth. Hence, you can also find that it has connections with Globe Telecom as well.

Unfortunately, since the start of quarantine, their medicine delivery service has been unavailable. But if you need other medical services (even COVID-19 testing), you can request it through the app.

Delivery and Payment Details

• Delivery fee is Php 49 (currently unavailable)
• Payment methods include cash-on-delivery, GCash, and debit/credit cards through the app

MedGrocer

MedGrocer is another subsidiary of ACHealth, and is focused on providing medicines available via delivery. Their website is clean, simple and straight to the point, no need for registrations.

Delivery and Payment Details

• Convenience Fee is a bit steep – Php 200
• Payment mode is cash-on-delivery only

Muramed

Another straightforward online pharmacy with online ordering, payment and delivery. You can also choose to pick your order up from their main office in Ortigas. But since we are in quarantine, it should be better to have your orders delivered at the moment.

Delivery and Payment Details

• Delivery fee is Php 50 in Metro Manila, Php 100 for Luzon and Php 150 for VisMin areas
• Delivery is free for a minimum purchase of Php 1000
• Payment methods supported are cash-on-delivery, Paymaya, and debit/credit cards via the site

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Buying via Pabili Method

You can also opt to buy medicine by having a driver do your buying for you from an actual drugstore. There are two options – via Lalamove or Grab.

How to Pay using GCash for Lalamove and Grab

Both Lalamove and Grab have their own wallets that need topping up. You can use your GCash debit card (Mastercard or AMEX) to pay for the top-up. You can also read this post for more details using this method.

Pabili using Lalamove

You can have your driver do a purchase service that costs Php 50 on top of the delivery fee. The driver will be buying the item for you so you also need to reimburse the driver. They also have conditions that the item you are buying should be below 20kg and should cost below Php 2000.

Pabili using Grab

Grab also has a Pabili service (formerly known as Grab Assistant). Basically you have the driver pay for what you need to buy and have it delivered to you. You will need to shoulder any services incurred by the driver, including parking fees. Similar to Lalamove, the items bought should also fall below Php 2000.

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Buying from within the actual drugstore

Sometimes the drugstore is near enough that a personal trip is needed. For these cases, going cashless is another way of practicing social distancing.

Using GCash to Pay via QR Code

Paying via QR Code is done within the GCash app. There are two types of QR Code payments — one is through Scan to Pay (Scan QR Code), the other is through Barcode Payments (Generate Code). Both of them are in the GCash app under Pay QR/Barcode.

Paying via Scan to Pay (Scan QR)

Scanning the QR Code means the merchant holds the physical standee or device where you, the Gcash user, scan the actual QR code itself.

To use this, in the GCash app, here are the steps you need to do:

1. Click on “Scan QR Code” from the Pay QR/Barcode page.
2. This will open a camera page. Scan the code.
3. If you scanned a static QR, you will need to input the amount.
4. In the confirm page, you can input vouchers, or select GCredit before confirming the payment.
5. Afterward you will be receiving two notifications — one via the app, the other via SMS.

What are drugstores that support Scan to Pay?

Some drugstores/pharmacies that support Scan to Pay include:

• Dok Alternatibo
• Dygen Pharma
• Generika Drugstore
• HB1 Pharmacy
• Mercury Drug
• Rose Pharmacy
• Save On Drugstore
• South Star Drug
• Threesixty
• Watsons
• We Care Drug

Can I use GCredit using Scan to Pay?

Yes, you can select the GCredit option in the confirm payment screen. If you need details on how to activate and use GCredit, please take a look at this post.

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Summary

I talked about all the current drugstore options we have for online and offline. For online, there are a variety of drugstores with varying levels of quality of customer experience. Unfortunately, there are not a lot of drugstores that support online payments via GCash.

You can also have your medicines bought by Lalamove or Grab Pabili. You can top-up your wallets for your respective provider by using your GCash debit card.

For offline payments, GCash also has drugstore partners with Scan to Pay. Using this, you may pay for your medicines cashless or via GCredit.

Here are some other related posts regarding payments:

• GCash and Delivery apps (Grab, Lalamove)
• GCash and Food Delivery apps (GrabFood, FoodPanda)
• GCash and Streaming Sites (Netflix, IFlix, etc)
• GCash and Online Groceries

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