How To Send Money to GCash in the Philippines: The Best and Cheapest Ways

If you're a Filipino living and working overseas, you'll know that GCash is an influential mobile app helping transition the Philippines to a more cashless society. You can conveniently send money to friends, shop online, and access loans with your mobile phone.

However, sending money back home to the Philippines from your country of residence isn't always so simple. To send money to someone's GCash wallet, you must use a third-party service like Remitly, WorldRemit, or Western Union to get the job done. Get started now by finding the cheapest and fastest service using Monito's live comparison tool below. 👇

Can I Have GCash Outside of the Philippines?

GCash is available in several countries outside of the Philippines, thanks to GCash Overseas. As of October 2023, these include the following countries in addition to the Philippines:

• United States,
• United Kingdom,
• Japan,
• Canada,
• Australia,
• Italy.

Remember that the only way you can use GCash Overseas is if you hold a valid Filipino passport or government-issued ID, as well as a SIM issued locally from one of the countries above.

You can learn more about GCash overseas here.

Can I Send Dollars to GCash?

No, you can't send US dollars to GCash yet since GCash doesn't support USD-PHP conversions at all. That's because the app is denominated in Philippine pesos and isn't yet able to support US dollar deposits. Fortunately, there are quick, easy, and super-affordable solutions! We delve into them below:

How to Put Money In GCash From Abroad

The best (i.e., the cheapest and fastest) way to send money to the Philippines from a country overseas is through a digital money transfer service.

GCash has partnered with many of these digital money transfer specialists. If you want to take advantage of great exchange rates and high speeds, your best course of action is to send your local currency to one of their local bank accounts. Then, it will be quickly transfer on to your recipient's GCash account.

How to Send Money to GCash

Here's all you need to do to send your money to a GCash account:

1. Compare cheap transfer services to the Philippines with Monito;
2. Sign in or sign up for an account;
3. Enter transfer info (amount, recipient name);
4. Select GCash as your delivery method;
5. Enter your recipient’s GCash-registered name & account number;
6. Confirm and pay for the transfer!

Below is a brief visual guide for getting the job done as affordably and hassle-free as possible:

According to thousands of comparisons made on Monito throughout 2023, WorldRemit was, on average, the best option for Filipinos living abroad to send money to GCash back home. Remitly, Western Union, and Skrill were other cheap options. In the sections below, we explore each provider in a bit more detail.

Best: WorldRemit

WorldRemit is a UK-based remittance platform that's usually the fastest and cheapest way to send money to the Philippines. It supports transfers from the USA to the Philippines (and many other countries worldwide, including the UK, EU, and Australia).

• Avg. cost from US to Philippines: ±1%
• Transfer time: In minutes
• GCash limits: Varies by bank; on average ₱300,000 per transfer
• More info: See our full WorldRemit review or visit their website.
• Tutorial video:

2nd-Best: Remitly

Remitly is a US-based remittance platform that has been the cheapest money transfer service to the Philippines on Monito's comparison engine from August 2021 to August 2022. It supports transfers to GCash in the Philippines from the USA, Canada, UK, Australia, Singapore, Italy and the Netherlands.

• Average cost to the Philippines: -1%
• Available send countries: US, Canada, the UK, Australia, Singapore, Italy, Netherlands
• Unavailable major send countries: Japan, Germany, India, UAE, Malaysia, Turkey
• GCash limits: USD 2,999 within 24 hours, USD 10,000 within 30 days, and USD 18,000 within 180 days
• More info: See our full Remitly review or visit their website.
• Tutorial video:

• Average cost to the Philippines: ±1.5%
• Available major send countries: All
• Unavailable major send countries: None
• GCash limits: USD 1,500 per day
• More info: See our full Western Union review or visit their website.

3rd-Best: Western Union

Western Union is the largest and oldest money transfer operator on the globe, offering money transfers to the Philippines from dozens of countries across the globe.

4th-Best: Skrill

Unlike Remitly, Skrill is a mobile wallet that allows many features, including international money transfers. Between August 2021 to August 2022, Skrill averaged as the fourth cheapest money transfer service on Monito's comparison engine. It provides a flexible and easy way to send money to GCash from overseas.

• Average cost to the Philippines: 1.5% - 2.5%
• Available send countries: Europe, US, Australia
• Unavailable major send countries: Japan, India, UAE, Malaysia, Singapore, Turkey
• GCash limits: ₱100,000
• More info: See our full Skrill review or visit their website.

5th-Best: MoneyGram

After Western Union, MoneyGram is the second-largest money transfer operator in the world and also offers money transfers to the Philippines using GCash from a large number of countries worldwide.

• Average cost to the Philippines: ±1% + $5 fee
• Available major send countries: All
• Unavailable major send countries: None
• GCash limits: $10,000 every 30 days
• More info: See our full MoneyGram review or visit their website.

Can International Banks Transfer to GCash? (Not Recommended)

Yes, international banks can indeed transfer money to GCash. This can be facilitated through various integrations with GCash and other platforms (such as InstaPay or PesoNet capabilities). Banks with this functionality and their respective SWIFT codes include:

• BPI — BOPIPHMM
• UnionBank — UBPHPHMM
• CIMB Bank — CIPHPHMM
• Maybank — MBBEPHMM

However, we highly caution against using traditional banks for sending money overseas to GCash. Transferring money internationally through traditional banks can be exceptionally expensive, with fees amounting to over 5%-10% of the total transaction amount in many cases. This high cost is due to a combination of transaction fees, poor exchange rates, and other hidden charges that banks often apply to international transfers.

Instead, we highly encourage you to choose a money transfer specialist like WorldRemit to cheaply send money to a Philippine bank account. Remitly ranked as the second-best service to the Philippines in 2023, while Wise ranked as third.

Since rates change all the time, compare services in real-time with Monito to find the best international money transfer specialist for remittances to the Philippines:

Where To Cash Out GCash?

You finally have your money safely sent to a digital GCash account! If you want to withdraw the money to use as cash, then you have a several GCash-partners to choose from.

At the store counter, let the cashier know that you want to cash out from GCash, provide your mobile number and desired amount, present a valid ID, confirm the transaction via SMS, and then receive your cash:

Convenience Stores

• Family Mart

Pawnshops

• PeraHUB
• Villarica
• Tambunting
• Jaro Pawnshop

Supermarkets

• Puregold

Payment Facilities

• ExpressPay
• TrueMoney
• Posible

Department Stores

• SM Store
• Robinsons

Have a GCash Mastercard?

• With your GCash Mastercard, you can withdraw cash at any Bancnet or Mastercard-partner ATM across the Philippines.