GCash app. ABS-CBN News/File

MANILA — Data and information security analyst Dominic Ligot said fintech giant GCash needs to be more transparent with its customers about the glitch that happened to its system over the weekend, which resulted in authorized fund transfers.

Ligot, who is the founder of Data Ethics PH, a non-profit watchdog focusing on ethical uses of data and AI, said that while technical glitches do happen, GCash owes the public an explanation.

Digital advocacy group calls for investigation and accountability for GCash 

“I think GCash owes the public an explanation bakit nangyati ‘to — tandaan natin mga few years ago may mga bangko rin na nagkaroon ng glitch. Ipinaliwanag naman nila sa mga customers nila and then overtime naibalik naman yung tiwala. I think ganoon din 'yung dapat mangyari sa GCash,” he explained.

(I think GCash owes the public an explanation why this happened — let's remember that several banks also encountered glitches few years ago. They explained the situation to their customers and the trust to them returned overtime. I think that's what GCash has to do as well) 

Ligot said the government should investigate the issue.  

“Ang tanong din eh is whether the government should step in, kasi hindi naman puwedeng nakaasa lang tayo kay GCash. Siyempre dapat may third party na dapat mag-audit diyan,” according to Ligot.

(The question here is also whether the government should step in because we can't just rely to GCash. There should also be a third party that will audit what happened)

DICT has no authority to audit fintech firms amid GCash 'system reconciliation'

The Department of Information and Communication Technology (DICT) earlier stated that it has no "regulatory power" to check the systems of fintech firms. 

Ligot said he is also a user of an e-wallet but based on experience, it's always hard to reach the customer service of this e-wallet platform. 

“Ngayon kasi ang hirap na rin magdala-dala ng cash all around eh kaya nga dapat meron kang GCash and other payment platforms for convenience. Pero ang kapalit ng convenience siyempre dapat may tiwala ka dun sa platform mo,” he said.

(It's also hard to bring cash with you nowadays hence you must also have GCash and other payment platforms for convenience. But in exchange of convenience you should also have trust to your platform) 

“Minsan ang hirap din contact-in ng mga payment platforms na ‘to. Dapat accessible sila, transparent sila and later 'pag naayos na i-disclose nila ano ba talaga 'yung nangyari,” he added.

(Sometimes it's also difficult to contact these payment platforms. They should be accessible and transparent, and when an issue gets fixed they should disclose what happened later)