GCash Partners with Igloo for Online Shopping Protection Insurance

By Shiela Bertillo

Fintech firm Gcash, an e-wallet provider, in collaboration with Igloo, a Singapore-based regional insurect firm, is set to launch the first of its kind online shopping insurance protection. This partnership aims to offer peace of mind for 46 million GCash users when they transact using GCash.

The insurance is underwritten by PGA Sompo, an insurance company that offers a wide range of non-life insurance products and services including digital properties. 

In line with the increasing demand to go cashless and more merchants and retailers are opting for the convenience of e-commerce, express peer-to-peer cash transfer and consumers shifting to online for their daily needs; this collaboration come at a time where GCash has seen a surge in online transactions and is on track to hit PHP 3 trillion in full-year gross transactions, which is 3 times more than last year’s performance. (Read More: GCash Will Really Add Crypto, Currently in Talks with Potential Partners)

In a recent survey, 37% of all digital service consumers  in the Philippines are new to the service due to COVID-19. The survey also shows 97% of these new digital consumers will continue to use digital services going forward. This has led to an increasing need to be able to secure each transaction. 

“This comes at an unprecedented time when we see robust growth in our online transactions and user base. With excellent customer experience being the heart of our business alongside value-added services through our platform, we are thrilled to launch this new product with Igloo that secures online transactions for our customers,” GCash President and CEO Martha Sazon said.

Mario Berta, Igloo Philippines Country Manager, stated that they are “excited to partner with the leading e-wallet in the country, GCash, who shares the same vision of protecting digital consumers by pioneering innovative solutions to end-customers at an economical price.”

“With the growing number of digital consumers in the country, now more than ever, is it most important to provide flexible solutions for the changing needs and processes of both businesses and customers. In a recent survey, 44% of the respondents had been a target of a fraud scheme. The majority of them, or 44% and 39% are experienced by Gen Z and Millennials, respectively. With many GCash customers belonging to this bracket, Igloo’s protection is not only timely but very relevant to GCash customers’ needs,” he added. (Read More: GCash Increases Cash-in Partners)

The Online Shopping protection is one of the first products Igloo will be launching with GCash and its customers but will soon be rolling out more products with the e-wallet platform in the next six months that will be geared towards MSMEs which are about 90% of the businesses in the Philippines, securing the entire ecosystem of both seller-business owner-and-buyer.

Igloo’s Online Shopping product is part of its Cyber Protection vertical, which secures financial loss arising directly from any online marketplace fraud. With its pioneering partner, GCash – GCash users will now be protected from any transaction they make via online marketplaces such as Lazada, Shopee, including Viber and Facebook marketplaces as long as their payment was fulfilled via the GCash platform.

This article is published on BitPinas: GCash Partners with Igloo for Online Shopping Protection Insurance