E-commerce has been on an upswing for a while now, even before the quarantine. Now, it’s as strong as ever due to enterprising Filipinos who are leveraging the cheaper fees of delivery services like Grab/Lalamove. Coupled with increased usage of digital wallets like GCash, there is no other way but up for e-commerce and for side businesses in general.
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.
Using GCash in Online Shopping Sites
I’m focusing on Lazada, Shopee, Carousell and Zalora as these are the known mainstream sites for e-commerce currently.
Lazada
Lazada is the most popular online marketplace currently. As this is backed by Alipay, it has an affinity with GCash as they are also partly owned by Alipay. One of the recent updates in GCash has the Lazada mini-app in GLife, within the app itself.
As for different types of products, aside from the normal products, we can also order groceries (LazMart) and department store items (LazMall). For payment methods, Lazada supports GCash as they are partly owned by Alipay. However, you can also link your GCash debit card if you so wish.
If you are buying from the Lazada microsite within GCash, the payment method is GCash only.
Shopee
Shopee is not far behind Alipay. They also have Shopee Mall and Shopee Mart for department store items and groceries respectively. Shopee has a lot more payment options due to their partnership with Dragonpay, including GCash acceptance. Keep in mind though that for Dragonpay there usually is a transaction fee included with the payment.
You can also use your GCash debit cards for payment. You can also load your ShopeePay using GCash and gain freebies.
Carousell
Carousell is the former OLX.ph site (which acquired Sulit.com.ph). Basically this site is a popular marketplace for people who want to sell their stuff, typically used items. The method of payment varies depending on the seller — some support GCash and bank transfers; others prefer COD (cash-on-delivery).
You can also buy some coins using GCash, which is used to buy bumps, spotlights and listing fees — which are basically tools to make your listings more visible in the main page of the app. You need to first link your Google account to GCash first.
Zalora
Zalora is the most popular online store for fashion items, carrying goods from known brands. They are also forward thinking with deliveries and support, returns are made easier — they even include a bag for returns if ever you are not satisfied with the sizing of the item.
As for payment methods, they support:
- Credit/Debit Cards
- GrabPay
- PayPal
- GCash (via Dragonpay)
- Google Pay
- Cash-on-Delivery
I wasn’t able to take a screenshot in the app as it didn’t let me. I tried to check in the desktop site itself, but there was no GCash option in the payment methods. You can still use the GCash debit card methods. If you’ve linked you GCash debit cards with PayPal and Google Pay, you can also pay using those.
BeautyMNL is a well-known beauty and wellness e-commerce site catering to Filipino women. They have lots of authentic cosmetic brands, notably Korean selections.
They have lots of options for payment, including Credit/Debit cards, Paypal, Bank Deposit, COD, GCash (via Paymongo), and GrabPay.
Summary
I’ve talked about some of the popular shopping sites currently — Lazada, Shopee, Carousell, Zalora, BeautyMNL, and how you can use GCash with these sites. Most of these sites support GCash payments directly so you don’t really need a GCash debit card.
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After reading about what GCash is, here are the main GCash features:
Fund Transfers:
Cashing In/Out:
Payments:
New Services: