Manila MRT3 EMV and QR Acceptance - The GCash Commuter QR Code
As reported earlier, on July 25, 2025, MRT-3 in Manila started to accept GCash QR codes directly at the gate, without the need to buy a prepaid ticket.
I have not found reports of first-hand experience with this new feature. All I can talk about here is what I can deduce from the user experience with the GCash application and from comparing the QR code data to the QCAT specification. I cannot say anything about processing until I have tried it myself.
In summary, there does not seem to be much support for interoperability. I would say that the e-wallets may have missed a chance to compete with the payment cards schemes in the AFCS market.