MANILA - E-wallet platform GCash launched on Monday a new in-app cyber insurance product aimed at providing users with extra protection in case they fall victim to common financial scams.

With Send Money Protect, users can insure up to P15,000 in GCash Express Send money transfers for 30 days for a premium of P30.

GInsure head Jay Young said this covers scams such as online shopping fraud, account takeovers, and social engineering.

“‘Pag nabudol ka na magpadala ng pera sa isang taong manloloko... napaniwala ka noong taong ito na totoo siya, na kaibigan mo talaga siya so dali-dali nagpadala ka ng pera via Send Money, specifically via Express Send. And it turned out na itong tao pala na ito, hindi siya yung kaibigan mo at nagpapanggap lang siya. That’s an example of social engineering,” explained Young.

According to Young, users can file for an insurance claim even if they learned of the scam belatedly.

“Kunyari I was covered January 1 to January 30, 30 days right?...And then after 6 months, doon pa lang kami nagkita nung kaibigan ko. Tapos nalaman ko, hindi pala siya talaga yung humingi ng pera. Pwede ba akong mag-claim? Yes. For as long as the scam happened within the 30 days (that the user was covered),” he said.

But Young said users will have to show proof that they were scammed to get their claim from GCash’s insurance partner, Chubb. This could be in the form of screenshots of the user’s correspondence with the alleged scammer and a screenshot of the transaction.

“It’s the standard practice of all insurance companies na 5 to 7 working days, dapat may resulta na, upon completion of claim requirements,” he added.

GCash Chief Risk Officer Ingrid Beroña noted that they set the maximum coverage to P15,000 so as to cover the average amount transacted by users while still keeping the monthly premium affordable for a "sachet country".

“Ang normal na tao, on average, ang tina-transact niya is between P2,000 to P5,000. So the goal really is to ensure that we are able to cover the average amount for everyone...I don’t think you can find a P30 insurance anywhere else, right?” she said.

But Beroña added that they are also planning to offer a higher premium for an expanded coverage in the future.

GCash also recently signed a partnership with the National Bureau of Investigation to help speed up the investigation of various online scams.