How to Book Movies in GCash: A Primer

A digital wallet has its core uses, like saving money, sending money, paying bills, etc. But there are also value-added features that go beyond its use from a digital wallet, into a true lifestyle app. One of GCash’s often overlooked features is Book Movies.

GCash the only wallet app that can book movies. I guess this is part of its push to make it similar to the Alipay app – in China, everything is tied up with a digital wallet, from food to shopping to transportation.

Since GCash is already a wallet app, paying for tickets is easy since we are already inside the app.

Can we use GCredit with Book Movies?

Unfortunately no. We can only use GCredit with Pay Bills and QR Payments currently. But who knows, maybe in the future we can see this mode of payment.

Does Book Movies affect GScore? How about GCash Forest?

Book Movies does not affect GScore since you are paying for a service. GScore is mainly affected by the use of financial services like cash-in and cash-out, use of savings and investment features (like Save Money and Invest Money), and management of debt (GCredit).

For GCash Forest, Book Movies does give out Energy Points (EPs).

What cinemas are supported by Book Movies?

Since Book Movies is powered by GMovies, all of the cinemas offered by GMovies can be selected in Book Movies too. This means, Robinson’s Movieworld, SM (including IMAX) and Ayala Cinemas are included. This also means that the tickets we are buying are reserved seats.

The benefit of using GCash to reserve is the fact that you do not need to login to GMovies to be able to pay via credit card or other payment options. Even if there is a service fee, the mere fact that we don’t need to queue makes it worth it.

How do we use Book Movies?

We first need to look for the Book Movies icon, but oftentimes it’s hidden at the second page of the app (behind Show More):

Next is we need to confirm our email address, as this is where GCash will email the ticket details after payment.

When we click Proceed, we then go the cinemas page. This page shows the nearest cinemas from our location right now. But if you want to see all the cinemas offered, you can also click on the upper right hamburger menu.

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After selecting a cinema, GCash then shows the movies for that cinema today as a default. You can then select a movie you want to watch:

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Once the Book Movie button is clicked, you will proceed to the reserve seats section. You can then specify which date and time of the movie you plan to watch. You can also add a promo code if applicable. We can always check the GCash promo page to know what deals they have regarding movies from time to time.

Lastly, we confirm our payment. The service fee is Php 20 per ticket. The movie and payment details are also emailed to the address you entered above.

The only thing left to do is to go the cinema, claim a hard copy of the tickets (for SM Cinemas anyway) and watch the movie. Good thing they’ve relaxed their no outside food rule.

Are the tickets transferable?

Yes, you only need to forward the confirmation email to the person you want it transferred to. They only need to present the ticket in the cinema.

Can I also pay via GCash within the GMovies app?

Sure. If you are already in the GMovies app, then there is no need to switch to the GCash app, since GCash is also one of the payment options listed. You just need to input your GCash number and the OTP they sent via SMS to be able to pay. Pretty simple.

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Summary

We talked about the Book Movies feature in GCash, the only digital wallet app that has this in the country. It enables us to buy and reserve tickets without leaving the app and removes the biggest friction in buying from an app — the need to bring out a credit card and read the credit card CVV code.

We walked through the process of booking a movie within the GCash app and also showed how to pay using GCash within the GMovies app.

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