GCash completes adjustment of e-wallets affected by reported unauthorized fund transfers

Financial application GCash on Tuesday afternoon said it has already completed the adjustment of all e-wallets of users affected by the reported unauthorized deductions.

In a statement, GCash said it completed the adjustments as scheduled at 3 p.m. on Tuesday.

“We have already adjusted the e-wallets of all affected GCash users. We wish to reiterate that our customers did not lose their funds on GCash. The app is now up for service so you can safely proceed with your regular transactions,” it said.

“Rest assured, your funds are intact, safe, and secure with GCash. Our proactive cybersecurity policies are in place to protect our customers as the safety and security of your account is our top priority,” it added.

GCash earlier on Tuesday apologized for the temporary downtime of its system, as it said it extended its scheduled maintenance to investigate and determine that there was no hacking that happened.

Funds from GCash accounts were reportedly transferred to accounts under Asia United Bank (AUB) and East West Banking Corp. (EWB), which are now looking into the matter.

“Be assured that we at AUB are extending our utmost cooperation with GCash on the matter and assisting GCash in so far as looking into the said AUB account,” AUB legal services head and data privacy officer Atty. Emma Cabochan said in an emailed statement.

AUB said it has also temporarily put on hold the AUB account said to be involved in the fund transfer made from GCash via Instapay.

“EWB immediately acted on these reports and initiated its own internal investigation. Rest assured that we are cooperating with authorities and other institutions involved in the said report,” EWB said in a separate statement.

“We are working towards the immediate resolution of this matter,” it added.

GCash has recommended that clients restart their phones to avoid any issues.

The firm is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mynt (Globe Fintech Innovations Inc.), which is in turn a partnership between Globe Telecom Inc., the Ayala Corp., and Ant Financial. 

GCash is operated by G-Xchange Inc. and currently has over 79 million registered users. —VAL, GMA Integrated News