Complete Guide to Transferring Money from MoneyGram to GCash account in the Philippines

MoneyGram¹ operates more or less globally, with international money transfers you can send in person, online and through an app.

Waiting to receive a payment from someone based abroad? If you’re already a GCash² user and like the GCash wallet and card to make payments, read on to cover all you need to know.

How to Send Money from MoneyGram to GCash

You’ll be pleased to know that your sender may well be able to set up a MoneyGram to GCash payment for you, to receive your money in PHP conveniently in your GCash wallet⁴. Exactly what options the sender has will depend on factors like where in the world they are, and whether or not you’ve verified your GCash account. Let’s take a closer look.

MoneyGram to GCash Payments: Eligibility

To receive a payment from MoneyGram to GCash you and your sender must meet the following eligibility requirements:

1. Your sender must be in a country where MoneyGram to GCash payments are supported⁵
2. You’ll need a fully verified GCash account to receive a payment from MoneyGram
3. MoneyGram to GCash payments are subject to daily limits - the aggregated amount you receive on any given day must fall below this limit

Your sender can easily check if MoneyGram to GCash payments are supported in their home country by logging into MoneyGram and looking at the receive options they’re provided with when they set up a payment to the Philippines. If GCash is supported, this will be shown under the mobile wallet dropdown.

You can only receive a payment from MoneyGram to GCash if you have a fully verified GCash account. You’ll need to arrange this before your sender confirms the transaction at their end, or the payment will be rejected. Here are the steps to verify your account assuming you’re over 18, and have a Philippines mobile number⁶:

1. Log into the GCash app, and tap Profile
2. Select Verify Now, and then tap Get Started
3. Read through the verification requirements, and tap Next
4. You’ll be sent an authentication code - enter this and tap Next
5. Enter your birthday and confirm you are a Filipino citizen - tap Next
6. Choose which government ID to use to get verified, upload and image and take a selfie scan
7. Review your account information and tap Submit

MoneyGram to GCash transfer limits are set at an aggregated daily level of 50,000 PHP. If you’ll hit your limit with a transaction, the sender will be notified when arranging the transaction.

MoneyGram to GCash Transfer: Step-by-Step Guide

Your sender will be able to make a MoneyGram to GCash transfer digitally and pay by card or bank transfer, or in person at an agent location if they’d prefer to pay in cash. Here’s how to make a MoneyGram to GCash transfer, step by step:

1. Log into your MoneyGram account online or in app or visit a MoneyGram location
2. Select the mobile wallet delivery option and follow prompts to enter or give the teller your full legal name, mobile number and address
3. Enter PHP as the currency to be sent, the amount, and how you want to pay
4. Check and confirm and your money is on the way

How long does a MoneyGram to GCash transfer take?

The MoneyGram to GCash processing time is usually very quick, particularly if your sender chooses to pay by card or cash. If they prefer to pay through a bank transfer the payment may take a little longer to arrive.

The sender will be able to access MoneyGram to GCash tracking information by logging into their MoneyGram account and selecting the transfer to see where it is in the payment process.

Depending on how the sender arranges the payment, as recipient you may need to take action to have the money deposited to your GCash account. This may apply if the sender arranges your payment for cash collection but you’d rather simply use GCash. In this case, you should be able to take the following steps, once the sender has given you the relevant 8 digit MoneyGram reference number you’d use for cash collection:

1. Open the GCash app and tap the MoneyGram icon
2. Type in the 8 digit MoneyGram reference number provided by your sender
3. Your money will be deposited to GCash - saving you the trouble of going out to collect it in cash

MoneyGram to GCash Charges

MoneyGram uses variable fees, which can depend on how the sender sets up the transfer, the value of the payment and more. Therefore the MoneyGram to GCash charges will depend on the specific details of the payment being made. It’s also helpful to know that as well as any relevant upfront transfer cost, there may be costs added into the exchange rate being used to convert from the sender’s home currency to PHP. We’ll look at how this works next.

MoneyGram to GCash Transfer Fee

There is no GCash fee to the recipient when you get paid to GCash by remittance from a provider like MoneyGram⁷.

Instead, the costs of your transfer will usually be paid by the person sending the money. As we’ve seen, MoneyGram fees for international transfers vary but the sender can view all of MoneyGram’s costs before they initiate the payment.

It’s good to know that as well as any upfront transfer cost, there may be an exchange rate markup if the sender needs to convert their home currency to PHP to deposit to GCash - more on that next.

MoneyGram to GCash Conversion Rate

Assuming the person sending you a MoneyGram to GCash transfer is based abroad, the chances are that they’ll need to convert their home currency to PHP so you can spend it conveniently in the Philippines. In this case, a further fee - known as an exchange rate markup - may apply.

An exchange rate markup is a percentage fee which is added to the exchange rate used to switch the sender’s home currency to PHP for deposit to your GCash account.

Exchange rate markups are very common but not always easy to see. The exact percentage added might change based on the currency the sender chooses to pay in, and how they fund the payment.

Because the markup is not shown as a separate fee, you can only calculate it with a little bit of math. First, get the mid-market exchange rate for your currency pair, online or with a currency conversion tool. Next, compare the MoneyGram exchange rate against the mid-market exchange rate. The difference is the markup being used for your payment.

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