GCash and Alipay team-up to enable families from Hong Kong and the Philippines to send remittances to and from each other. The two companies formally announced their partnership today and even did a live demo of their new service.
GCash started back in 2004 as Globe’s mobile money wallet and has since grown to be one of the most used money transfer and payment portal in the Philippines. This isn’t the company’s first partnership with a big name portal though. Back in September of last year they also teamed up with Facebook to bring GCash to Messenger.
Alipay, on the other hand, is Alibaba’s mobile money wallet arm and the leading money transfer platform in China and even globally. Founded the same year as GCash, the payment platform remains the number 1 payment service despite the growth of rival WeChat pay. The payment system is still under the care of the Alibaba Group and its well-renowned founder and CEO, Jack Ma.
Transfers are done through block-chaining, the same technology used by virtual currencies like Bitcoin and Etherium. Both the sender and the receiver will be able to track their money through the app until the receiver accepts the transfer.
To demonstrate that the service is now available an OFW, Mary Grace, did a live transfer from her GCash app in Hong Kong to a family member in the Philippines. The service will be free during the first three months, after which the companies will introduce fees.
source: GMA News
