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Manila Bulletin devider devider How do we deal with poor Philippine e-wallet service reliability?

How do we deal with poor Philippine e-wallet service reliability?

Published Dec 20, 2021 09:01 am

In the Philippines, there are two major e-wallet services, GCash and PayMaya. I have accounts on both services, and have varying experiences. I am sure that I am not alone here (well, heard from my brother about his experiences as well), but so far, contacting customer support will make you pull your hair out. Generally, both companies’ customer support needs to level up from unsatisfactory to satisfactory.

GCash 

As a Globe subscriber, I immediately availed of this service when it was first offered. 

PROS

  • Works perfectly when it is online
  • Has virtual American Express card (add-on)
  • Provides the account holder’s name when doing fund transfers or personal payments reducing mistakes 

CONS

  • Frequently offline
  • When online, it frequently fails (GCash-AmEx) when used on international online service providers (when used with Stripe.com, and other popular payment gateways). This is the only virtual card that I have access to since my physical GCash Mastercard expired.
  • Physical GCash Mastercard has activation issues
    I purchased a physical Gcash Mastercard for those rare instances when there is no Globe signal and I want to use my GCash. Activating the card, through the GCash mobile application or that SMS-based application, failed multiple times (rebooting the iPhone, deleting and re-installing the app, you name it, I did it). I wouldn’t actually mind having this card fail activation IF IT WAS FREE, BUT I PAID FOR IT, so I expect to use it. I have been communicating with [email protected] for more than 6-weeks already, and there is still no resolution in sight. 
  • GCash-AmEx has issues with *incoming fund transfers*
    I used the GCash-AmEx card for an online purchase a few weeks ago. It was a successful transaction. There was an issue with the item, so I asked for a refund from the merchant, which the merchant did, through PayPal. PayPal’s record show that the amount was transferred to the GCash-AmEx card, but it has been two (2) weeks and it has not appeared on my GCash account. [email protected] is clueless on how to handle this (got three different persons replying to me without reading the original ticket and the thread!). I wish that there is a mechanism to escalate support tickets to someone who can really handle things like this, i.e., make decisions. Really frustrating.

PayMaya

When I shifted my main mobile phone services to Smart, I availed of their SmartMoney services, which failed dismally, IMHO. PayMaya, which replaced it, is far, far better.

PROS

  • More reliable services 
  • Works perfectly for local transactions
  • Can link several physical cards
  • Has virtual Mastercard number 

CONS

  • Unreliable (virtual Mastercard number or physical cards) when used for international transactions. It fails when used with online payment gateways, such as Stripe.com
  • Hit or miss customer service response time. Sometimes you get a good agent attending to your issues, oftentimes, they just let the ticket age and close by itself.

What is in store for us in the future?

As both GCash and PayMaya move to provide more financial services and be a bank (I think they both plan to be one), account holders need a more reliable service, with a top-notch customer service experience. Philippine companies tend to neglect their customers — as long as their revenue is up, to hell with their customers. I am sure that I am not alone in my experience with GCash and PayMaya, and others might have had worse! Will 2022 see GCash and PayMaya drastically improve their services and in taking care of their customers? I guess we will have to see. Until then, I wait for the GCash customer service to find a solution to my issues, and I wait for PayMaya to stop failing my international purchases.

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