Mobile e-wallet GCash is doubling down on efforts to curb the misuse of digital payment channels.

The Ayala-backed firm said over the weekend that it blocked more than 3,200 merchants linked to illicit activities such as illegal online gambling since 2025.

The action, carried out in coordination with the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC), prevents illegal operators from exploiting the QRPh payment rail by redirecting users to fake GCash payment pages.

Proactive blocking of unauthorized actors

“By proactively blocking unauthorized actors and reporting them to our regulators and authorities, we are helping protect Filipinos and maintain trust in the country’s digital financial ecosystem,” said Miguel Geronilla, chief information and security officer of G-Xchange Inc., the operator of GCash.

GCash said it does not partner with these illegal merchants and operators, which act as independent entities attempting to route transactions through legitimate digital services.

The company added it uses proactive monitoring systems to identify and disable these connections, while reporting suspicious sites to regulators and authorities to support enforcement efforts.

The company said it works with the CICC and the Philippine National Police Anti-Cybercrime Group to flag, suspend, and report entities attempting to misuse the GCash app and QRPh system without authorization or those masking QR codes that lead to unauthorized transactions.

QR masking tactics

GCash said illegal merchants often use tactics such as QR masking, fake payment pages that imitate legitimate businesses, and impersonation of official GCash payment interfaces to trick users into sending payments to unauthorized accounts.