SCHOLARS of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority now have a convenient way of receiving their training allowance after the agency signed an agreement with the country’s top mobile wallet recently.

TESDA’s partnership with GCash is expected to achieve payment efficiency during the pandemic as Training Support Fund distribution will be remitted digitally, saving its scholars the trouble of going to field offices in receiving their allowances.

It also allows contactless transactions, mitigating the impact of Covid19 on its scholars amid the ongoing implementation of different quarantine protocols.

TESDA Secretary Isidro Lapeña noted the agency has been looking for ways of continuing to serve its clients without exposing them to the virus.

“At the early stages of the pandemic, I have already instructed our Regional Operations Management Office to find a safe and effective way on how we can distribute Training Support Fund to our scholars this pandemic. Now that we have this partnership with GCash, this can really help our kababayans especially the ones who are in far-flung areas,” he said.

Meanwhile, GCash President and Chief Executive Officer Martha Sazon shared the company has been actively supporting the government in delivering much needed support to the Filipinos since the onset of the pandemic.

“We understand that Fintech plays a key role in carrying out social assistance programs faster and safer, especially now that we are still figuring out how to transition back to normalcy,” she said.

TESDA scholars need only to download the GCash app on their phones through Google Play and Apple Store, and coordinate with authorized TESDA representative to receive their training support fund which amounts to P160 per training day.

With the General Community Quarantine still in effect in most parts of the country, both private businesses and government entities have been looking for ways to make cash distribution frictionless, and most have relied on mobile money for transactions.

Earlier this year, GCash was tapped by the DSWD, and other local government units such as the Makati and Quezon City governments, to distribute Social Amelioration Program assistance to qualified beneficiaries and constituents.

To date, the mobile wallet company has already distributed over P16 billion to more than 2 million Filipinos nationwide in financial assistance.

Globe Fintech Innovations Inc. (Mynt), which operates GCash, is part of the portfolio companies of 917Ventures, the largest corporate incubator in the Philippines wholly-owned by Globe Telecom Inc.