GCash vs PayMaya fees: Which one costs more?

E-wallets such as GCash and PayMaya have made it easier to accomplish financial transactions at the comforts of your home. People don’t need to go and risk going out since both platforms allow users to send money for their loved ones, pay bills, transfer funds on bank accounts, and top-up cash on the e-wallets. Unfortunately, these digital payment solutions require additional fees before fulfilling transactions. To help you gauge which one is ideal for your needs, we’ve compared the service fees of GCash and PayMaya for cash-ins, bank transfers, and sending money.

UPDATE (July 8, 2020): We recently obtained new information about Globe and PayMaya’s fees and services. We have updated the article to reflect said new information and adjusted our recommendations as well.

Author’s note: We’ve based the fees found from the official websites of PayMaya and GCash. 

Sending Money

When transferring money to another account on the same platform, both do not charge fees to users. Since PayMaya is a sister company of Smart, it supports remittance through Smart Padala with an additional 1.5% service charge that must be shouldered by the sender. Its exclusive partner for remittance is Palawan Pawnshop which also adds a 1.5% service charge per transaction. Do note that the service is currently unavailable until further notice.

Globe’s GCash, on the other hand, has a slightly higher additional fee at 2% with Villarica Pawnshop as its partner. Unlike its competitor, it didn’t suspend the Send Money feature for its partner remittance center.

Bank Transfers

For transferring funds to other bank accounts and e-wallets via Electronic Fund Transfer services such as InstaPay and PESOnet, both have waived their fees as the country continues to fight with the coronavirus pandemic.

Cash-In

GCash has an in-app feature which makes topping up of credits free and easier for those who have online banking accounts on UnionBank and BPI. It also offers free cash-in via PayPal for international accounts, via InstaPay for most banks, and via partner payment and remittance centers. Users can cash-in via partner payment and remittance centers of up to PHP 8,000USD 136INR 11,557EUR 130CNY 993 per month for free, but once they reach the monthly limit they would need to pay a 2% convenience fee on top of the amount they would want to reload on their GCash account. Among its over-the-counter partners are the following: Cebuana Lhuiller, Villarica, Tambunting, Palawan Pawnshop, Globe Store, Bayad CenterECPay, Bayad Center, ECPay, select branches of Western Union, Expresspay, Digipay, PERA HUB, TrueMoney, Posible, GrowSari, 7-Eleven, LBC Express, TouchPay, eTap / Pay & Go, Shell Select, Puregold, Savemore, SM Hypermarket, SM Supermarket, SM, Robinsons Department Stores.

Globe’s e-wallet will also start to collect a 2.58% convenience fee per transaction for cash-ins done through MasterCard and Visa debit and credit cards. GCash suspended cash-in via bank card services starting July 6, 2020, until further notice.

Meanwhile, PayMaya offers free top-up via BPI and BDO online and mobile banking. The former also allows funding through its ATMs. It also offers customers over-the-counter cash-ins through the following channels free of charge: Palawan Pawnshop, Tambunting Pawnshop, RD Pawnshop, POSIBLE!, and LBC (Ayannah), SM Store Business Centers, Robinsons Department Store Business Centers, Robinsons Supermarket, Shopwise, Gaisano Capital, 7-Eleven, Wellcome, Bayad Center, Pay&Go Self Service Kiosks in select outlets of Ministop, Mercury Drug, Super8, Lawson, Landers; Touchpay self-service kiosks, ExpressPay, DigiPay, BDO over the counter, and Smart Stores. Adding money from PayPal is free for PayMaya users who regularly transfer money above PHP 7,000USD 119INR 10,112EUR 114CNY 869. An additional PHP 50USD 0.85INR 72EUR 0.81CNY 6 is added for cash-ins below PHP 7000USD 119INR 10,112EUR 114CNY 869.

Those who choose to reload on Smart Padala Centers are required to pay an additional 1.50% from the total cash-in amount. For adding money via bank cards, PayMaya charges a flat rate of PHP 30USD 0.51INR 43EUR 0.49CNY 4 regardless of the add money amount.

Reloading of money from online banks via Electronic Fund Transfer services such as InstaPay and PESOnet are currently exempted from additional charges until further notice.

Which one to choose?

We’ll break it down easy for you. We recommend using GCash if you need to send money to Villarica Pawnshop, send money through a remittance center with more branches occasionally,  transfer funds not more than PHP 1,160USD 20INR 1,676EUR 19CNY 144 from bank cards transfer funds of any amount from a PayPal account, and cash-in via InstaPay, UnionBank, and BPI for free.

But if you need to cash in via partner payment and remittance centers of more than PHP 8,000USD 136INR 11,557EUR 130CNY 993 a month, send money via Smart Padala centers, cash-in via MasterCard and Visa bank cards for a flat rate PHP 30USD 0.51INR 43EUR 0.49CNY 4, go for PayMaya. Additionally, you can also opt for PayMaya for free PayPal transfers for amounts above PHP 7,000USD 119INR 10,112EUR 114CNY 869.

To enjoy the best of both worlds, it’s advisable to have accounts on both GCash and PayMaya to help you move your funds around. Not to mention, you can move funds between GCash and PayMaya for free.

Sources:
GCash Help Center 1, GCash Help Center 2, GCash Help Center 3, PayMaya Terms and Conditions