DOT and GCash sign deal to bring cashless payments to accredited tourism MSMEs

The Department of Tourism (DOT) and mobile wallet GCash have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to help DOT-accredited micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) across the country accept digital payments from local and foreign tourists, according to Mindanao Times.

The agreement was signed on November 3 by Tourism Secretary Dita Angara-Mathay and Assistant Secretary for Branding and Marketing Communications Armand Lorenze Sapitan for the DOT. Paul Albano, general manager of GCash for Business, and Juan Carlos Bauza, international payments head of GCash International, represented GCash, whose wallet is operated by G-Xchange, Inc. The MOU sets a framework for joint campaigns, merchant onboarding and financial literacy programs.

Under the deal, the DOT will endorse the onboarding of its accredited MSMEs, provide branding guidelines and digital assets for co-branded campaigns, and share tourist arrival data. It will also share lists of accredited businesses for outreach and verification, subject to data privacy laws, and coordinate with its regional offices.

GCash, for its part, will offer merchant incentives, customized payment toolkits and promotional support, and will run financial literacy training for participating businesses. Merchants will be onboarded to GCash for Business and given payment solutions such as SoundPay, PocketPay, SoundPay Plus and EasyPOS. Registration requires only a verified GCash account. The arrangement is also meant to let businesses accept supported foreign-issued cards.

Angara-Mathay said the partnership would give homestay hosts, market vendors and artisans the tools to accept digital payments, "so more of what tourists spend stays in local communities."

Albano said the partnership would connect even the smallest local businesses to more tourists, in line with the company's "Finance for All" mission.

Citing Philippine Statistics Authority figures, the report said tourism contributed more than P2.27 trillion, or 8.1 percent of GDP, to the economy in 2025 and supported 7.7 million jobs.