What is GSave and Why Open an Account?

GSave is a digital bank of CIMB in partnership with GCash. It means you can manage your GSave account using your GCash app your CIMB app. Opening a GCash account does not automatically open a GSave account but it’s the first step in doing so.

It may sound confusing but it’s not. Imagine your wallet and your ATM Card inside your wallet. GCash is your wallet and your ATM inside the wallet is GSave.

If you have not opened a GCash account yet, then I suggest that you do so. I have a separate post about it and you can see it here.

Note to Readers: Please be advised that the information written here is valid as of the time of writing but may have been updated by the time you see/read this post. Please refer to the linked CIMB Bank Philippines website to get the updated details. If the links are not working by the time you see the article, please go to the bank’s homepage.

Table of Contents

Why You Should Have a GSave Account

There are so many reasons to open a GSave account and I enumerated them here so you can decide for yourself if these reasons are enough for you to open an account.

Super Convenient

You can move money easily via your CIMB to GCash via your GSave account and vice-versa. Since there is an increasing number of merchants using GCash nowadays, putting money to your GCash from CIMB and vice-versa has becomes so much easier. For online sellers and online shoppers, this is probably one of the best banking options to have.

No Maintaining Balance Needed

Unlike opening a bank account in most regular banks, you don’t need to maintain a specific balance in your account. For most regular banks, when your balance falls below the maintaining balance, you will be charged for a certain amount of money. It won’t happen to your GSave since they’re not requiring a maintaining balance on your account. Please note that this might change in the future but this holds true as of the time of writing.

High-Interest Rate

You can earn 3.1% interest in GSave which is way higher than in most regular banks. One of the reasons behind the high-interest rate is that GSave is a digital bank that does not have a brick and mortar branches. Thus their operational cost is lower compared to regular banks. Again, the interest rate is subject to change so make sure to check GSave or CIMB website for the updated information before you open an account.

And lastly, your money is covered by PDIC with maximum deposit insurance for each depositor amounting to P500,000.

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Who Can Open a GSave Account

The eligibility criteria are very simple. In order to open a GSave account, you must be:

Individuals aged 18 and above
Applicant must be a fully-verified GCash user
Applicant must be a Philippine citizen and non-US person, and have at least one (1) valid government-issued ID

If you meet all the requirements mentioned above, you can apply for a GSave account on the GCash app. All you have to do is to log in to your GCash account and simply tap the Save Money icon to start your application!

What are the Accepted Government-Issued IDs

The list of acceptable valid IDs are:

Driver’s License (or its variants including Conductor’s license, Student permit, Temporary permit (when drivers license is not yet available)
Passport
Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) ID
Unified Multipurpose ID (UMID)
Postal ID (plastic type)
Voter’s (COMELEC) ID Card
Government Office ID or GOCC ID
Integrated Bar of the Philippines
Overseas Worker’s Welfare Administration ID (OWWA ID)
Senior Citizen ID
OFW ID
TIN No
SSS / GSIS No

Please note that as per CIMB’s website, the photo of your valid ID obtained from GCash during the account opening process will be retained and processed in accordance with the purpose of opening an account with the Bank.

How to Open a GSave Account

Opening an account is very simple. All you have to do is to follow these steps:

Open your GCash app and log in using your MPIN
On the GCash app, tap on the icon that says ‘Save Money’.
You will be asked to register for GSave by filling out some personal information.
After typing out all the requested information, a page will appear saying ‘GSave Registration Success’.
You will then be redirected to the GSave dashboard that displays the ‘Withdraw Funds’, ‘Make A Deposit’, and ‘Schedule Auto-Deposit’ use cases alongside the interest rate given to you and also your account number.
GCash will then send you an SMS informing you that you have opened a GSave account.

After you have completed the application process for GSave, it might take one business day for them to review and approve your application. Once your GSave application has been approved, you will be able to use your account without any issues.

Restrictions of a GSave Account

Please be advised that a non-upgraded GSave will have certain restrictions. Since face-to-face verification is not required to open a GSave account, the account will have the following restrictions mandated by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas:

The account will only be valid for 12 months.
The account will have a cumulative deposit limit of PHP100,000.00

Upon reaching either of these limits, you will be prompted to upgrade to a GSave Plus account.

And also, if you do not deposit money into your GSave account within 12 months, your GSave account will be closed. Please also note that if you deposit money into your GSave account but do not upgrade within 12 months, your account will expire.

So be sure to upgrade to GSave Plus Account.

What are the Benefits of an Upgraded GSave Account

If your GSave is upgraded, you will have limitless banking and enjoy exclusive promos with no cash-in limits and no 12 month validity period that a non-upgrade account has.

How to upgrade your GSave Account

Upgrading your GSave is very simple. All you have to do is to go through a virtual verification through CIMB Bank PH app. Simply scan your ID and take a selfie! Selfie check is available 24/7 as long as you have one of the following IDs: Passport, Driver’s License, UMID, SSS, PRC, Voter’s ID, or Postal ID.

CIMB Bank app is available in both IOS App Store and Google Playstore.

My Personal Experience with GSave

I have had GSave for quite some time, unfortunately, the sim card that I used to register my GCash account expired. I then deactivated my GSave on my CIMB app when that happened. I registered for a new GCash account however, according to the customer service rep that I have talked to, I can’t link my new GCash to my existing CIMB account since they only allow one GSave per person. Anyway, I think this system limitation/policy will soon be updated in the future.

Prior to the deactivation, I really enjoyed having and using GSave (when I still had it) because of the seamless transfer of money between CIMB and GCash. I’m an online seller and I use GCash to receive payment and also to make payments for my purchases. It was very convenient and economical for me to have GSave.

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Final Thoughts

Opening and maintaining a GSave account is easy and there are tons of benefits from doing so. If you have not opened a GSave account yet, I suggest that you do so especially if you’re an online seller or if you shop a lot online.