OFWs take advantage of GCash’s zero fees

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April 30, 2026 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — Overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) have taken advantage of zero fees extended by e-wallet giant GCash to transfer funds home and pay their social insurance.

GCash International general manager Arjun Varma told The STAR that OFWs in the Middle East have capitalized on the e-wallet’s cashback program to support their families here.

Varma said GCash has observed an increase in the volume of bank transfers from OFWs in the Middle East, showing their dedication to support families at home in the midst of rising prices.

Likewise, the e-wallet recorded more payments to state-run insurers Home Development Mutual Fund (Pag-IBIG) and Social Security System (SSS). Further, OFWs maximized the waived fees to buy load for loved ones.

“Most transactions are for bank transfers. Bills payment is mainly driven by government billers, such as Pag-IBIG and SSS,” Varma said.

“Many OFWs also use buy load to support their families in the Philippines by topping up mobile credits for their relatives,” he added.

GCash is scheduled to end the zero-fee program for bank transfers to and from the Middle East today, April 30, and it remains to be seen whether the e-wallet would extend it again.

Initially, GCash had designed the program to conclude on March 14, but the e-wallet extended it to ease the financial burden of OFWs in the Middle East.

Under the cashback program, OFWs can do bank transfers, bills payment and load top-up on the app for free. Any service fee is returned to them in two weeks through an in-app cashback.

The program covers Filipinos in Bahrain, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Right now, the Middle East is standing on shaky ground, as it faces an uncertain future in the wake of recent violence triggered by US-Israel attacks on Iran.

With no end in sight, the war is causing petroleum prices to spike, affecting largely low-income families in developing economies like the Philippines.

The Middle East is home to the largest population of OFWs, with one in five of them deployed in Saudi Arabia, based on data from the Philippine Statistics Authority.