GCash is going absolutely contradictory with approach to Tap to Pay in the country
Let’s get the facts straight, from the beginning QR codes weren’t largely the issue in payments, we absolutely could have gotten by living with QR PH in the country. The problem is with signal and internet being too weak in more places than they should be to generate and scan these QR codes.
Prior to the entry of Google Pay, and these other EWallets that are planning to enter, certain banks have already taken the initiative to add their own In-App Tap to Pay in the country, exclusively for android due to their greater accessibility to the NFC system, but ever since it has never been any better than QR codes, maybe it saves the problem of having to scan with a bad camera or something right but largely the problem remained. No signal? No pay. Weak signal? No pay. It’s just QR PH in a shiny coat of paint.
Come Google Pay right? The marketing for it is gaining traction through Visa and Mastercard intervention, then GCash comes in here and partners with Shell Gas Stations NATIONWIDE to have them use their proprietary GCASH TAP TO PAY, who are they serving with this? They’re raising the country into thinking GCash Proprietary tap to pay is the premiere tap to pay experience, they’re not solving the tech illiteracy problem of tap to pay not needing internet to use it because they still need the app, when foreigners tell filipinos this they won’t believe them.
We partially know why Gcash is doing this, pushing GPAY as an option will always require gcash sharing a cut with google per transaction which when it piles up will amount to hundreds of thousands of pesos for Google in gcash payments alone. They’re probably recouping the fees by offering the discounts in partner with shell because they have no profits to share with another company so they can offer discounts for people who opt for their proprietary tap to pay software.
Why it sucks, it sucks so ass because using gcash tap to pay requires changing the default wallet app from GPay to GCASH, even when you have the app open (hope to be corrected) meaning when we went shopping in robinsons the other day the tap to pay wouldn’t push through from the home screen BECAUSE IT WAS SET TO GCASH, I have to change default nfc app between gcash and gpay all the time?
The route of how Tap To Pay will be perceived and recognized in the country will be tainted if Gcash, undeniably the biggest ewallet app, pushes for their own solution than the globally accepted solution.