MANILA, Philippines – E-money app GCash announced on Thursday, February 16, on Facebook that it has expanded its services internationally. Through GCash Overseas, users in Japan, Australia, and Italy can send and receive money to and from any GCash account, pay bills, buy load and more.

International users are required to verify their account with a Philippine passport or “any valid PH ID.” The current roll-out is a beta phase, and will be available to a limited number of users at the moment. GCash’s Facebook post invites users to be “one of the first 1,000 Filipinos to try it abroad.”

President and CEO of GCash Martha Sazon also said in a Facebook post that the overseas service will also be rolling out in the US next week, and that more regions will be supported in the “near future.” With GCash Overseas, users will be able to use their numbers abroad to register.

Before GCash Overseas, those with a non-Philippine SIM card could only send cash to a GCash account via an international remittance partner either a digital one such as AliPayHK or a physical store such as Western Union or Moneygram. The money transfer service Payoneer could also be used to link to a GCash account. GCash Overseas looks to make international money transfers done via the app to be more similar to its domestic usage.

“Truly a huge collective effort from our team for the Filipino OFWs (overseas Filipino workers) and migrants around the world,” Sazon said.

– Rappler.com