GCash prevents fraud with facial recognition

GCash also signed a memorandum of agreement with the Philippine National Police Anti-Cybercrime Group to extensively go after perpetrators involved in phishing, smishing, online fraud, e-scams, vishing and other cybercrimes

GCash, an Ayala-backed financial super application, announced that it would launch a “double authentication” feature using face recognition starting in December to prevent unauthorized transactions amid the grim rise of text scams.

“The new feature removes customers’ dependence on SMS OTPs, which some fraudsters have exploited to scam users. It will provide a unique identifier that can’t be phished by scammers,” Gcash chief customer officer Winsley Bangit told reporters during a media launch on Thursday.

“We never stop innovating to ensure our 71 million users have the safest and most convenient experience when they use the app,” he added.

Aside from continuing to beef up its security measures, GCash also signed a memorandum of agreement with the Philippine National Police Anti-Cybercrime Group to extensively go after perpetrators involved in phishing, smishing, online fraud, e-scams, vishing and other cybercrimes taking advantage of GCash users.

“I would like to express my confidence that through our stronger partnership with the PNP -ACG, we will be able to achieve more in the prevention, investigation, and prosecution of cybercrimes,” GCash chief legal officer Atty. Maricor Alvarez-Adriano said.

As early as the end of the first half of 2022, GCash had already breached the P3-trillion mark in gross transaction value or GTV, which reflects the strong growth momentum of the digital financial space. It also doubled down on its merchant acquisition efforts and partnerships, resulting in a merchant and social seller base of 5.2 million.

A super financial app with a full suite of services, including cash loans and buy-now-pay-later products, it is the lone double unicorn in the Philippines valued at over $2 billion.