Mobile e-wallet GCash has rolled out username anonymity when sending money through the application to help address scam messages bearing the full names of mobile users.

GCash said in a statement the new feature serves as an added layer of customer protection. In the past, the name of the person was seen for verification.

"We have been working closely with the National Privacy Commission on the issue of text scams with names. We wish to assure our customers that our systems and infrastructure remain secure and there is no incidence of any data leak or breach," Mark Frogoso, chief information security officer of GCash, said Thursday.

"We need to strike a balance between customer experience and strengthening measures to keep user information safe from unscrupulous individuals. The feature that shows the full names of recipients was intended to help users verify if they are sending to the right person and avoid being scammed," he added.

Inbox safer
Likewise, the e-wallet has started to migrate transaction confirmations from text messages to the app inbox in a bid to improve security and provide customers with easier access to their transaction history.

GCash has been getting strong support from its parent company, Globe Telecom, which has spent $20 million or about P1.1 billion to boost its capabilities in detecting and blocking scams and spam messages.

As of the first quarter of the year, GCash already recorded P500 billion in gross transaction value — representing all types of transactions in the app.

Last year, it more than tripled its gross transactions to P3.8 trillion from P1.2 trillion in 2020. It ended 2021 with 55 million registered users, 4.5 million merchants and social sellers, and around 174,000 cash-in and cash-out agents.