GCash Not Bothered by PayMaya’s Crypto Offerings
GCash President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Martha Sazon stressed that the mobile wallet remains unfazed over Maya’s launch of digital bank and crypto trading services, adding that having a digital banking license is not a “silver bullet or magic” to growth.
“It’s not like a signboard that you just turn on then expect everyone to come in. There’s real work to acquire users and educate them on more complex financial services,” said Sazon.
Last month, PayMaya, one of the competitors of GCash, announced that it is rebranding from an e-wallet into an “all-in-one money app” called Maya.
Maya recently launched Maya Bank after securing a digital bank license from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) last year.
Along with Maya Bank, Maya also launched its new features like Crypto, where users can buy, sell, and store cryptos; BIR, where users can pay government fees using the app; and Maya Mall, where users can shop online.
Meanwhile, GCash, like Maya, also offers investments, credit, loans, and insurance, according to Sazon, emphasizing that “one-third of our GCash user base are already subscribed to at least one of our financial services products.”
The GCash Chief also reiterated that the mobile e-wallet is already available as a mode of payment across several exchanges such as Binance, Philippine Digital Assets Exchange (PDAX), Paxfulmake, and more “to be added soon.”
“We’re already offering up payment options for various crypto sites. And I think we lead that space. In terms of offering crypto inside our app, we’re making sure that the services we provide within the crypto space are the relevant ones and at a rate that is reasonable. We are working on it, and we’ll be able to offer what we think is what the consumers are really looking for,” she concluded.
Before 2021 ended, Globe Fintech Innovations Inc., GCash’s mother company, announced that the mobile e-wallet considers introducing cryptos to its users.
However, a year later, it suspended over 900,000 accounts suspected of committing fraud from January to March this year, in coordination with the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the Philippine National Police (PNP).
According to their own data, GCash has 55 million registered users, while Maya has over 40 million users.
In April, Luis Buenaventura II, Yield Guild Games’ Country Manager for the Philippines, compared on his Cryptoday series, the three different crypto exchanges available in the market, while adding that there is still no sign of the much anticipated “GCrypto” service of GCash.
This article is published on BitPinas: GCash Not Bothered by PayMaya’s Crypto Offerings
Disclaimer: BitPinas articles and its external content are not financial advice. The team serves to deliver independent, unbiased news to provide information for Philippine-crypto and beyond.
