After a long-anticipated wait, Google Pay has finally launched in the Philippines today, November 18, 2025, becoming the first major global wallet to expand locally.

The service allows cardholders to store debit and credit cards in the Google Wallet on Android devices, enabling tap-to-pay transactions at merchants with near-field communication (NFC) enabled terminals.

Industry sources told The STAR that GoTyme Bank is in the first wave of issuers, though banks were reportedly barred from making early disclosures, possibly due to an embargo set by Google Pay.

At least nine banks and financial technology companies were part of the initial rollout. Here is an unofficial list of supported institutions and the cards:

Industry sources said two of the country’s largest banks, BDO Unibank and BPI, were not part of the initial group.

According to sources, these banks are still finalising technical requirements. Industry executives have previously pointed to tokenisation as the key technical hurdle for issuers before global wallets approve activation.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) had earlier cleared the launch by ruling that Google Pay does not need to register as a payment service provider.

BSP Deputy Governor Mamerto Tangonan stated the central bank determined that global wallets act as technology service providers and do not directly handle or store funds, which are key factors in classification.

Featured image by seventyfour via Freepik.