How to pay an online loan in the Philippines: every channel, step by step

Start from the app, not from the counter

Every online lender tells you how to pay in one place: the repayment screen inside its own app or account page. That screen gives you the two things every channel below will ask for — the biller name, which is usually the licensed company rather than the brand (SOFI Financing for Finbro, MoneyCat Financing for MoneyCat), and your account or reference number. It also lists which channels are live, because lenders add and drop payment partners. Get those two items first and every form below takes two minutes. If a message rather than the app is telling you where to pay, stop: payment instructions by text are how counterfeit apps collect, and is this loan app legit? shows how to confirm you are paying the licensed operator.

GCash

1. Open GCash, tap Bills, then Loans, and search the biller name the app gave you.
2. Enter the account or reference number exactly as shown. A transposed digit sends the money to the wrong ledger, and recovering it is slow.
3. Enter the amount, check the name that comes back on screen, confirm with your MPIN.
4. Screenshot the receipt — reference number, amount, timestamp. GCash bills payments usually post within the day but are not always instant.

If the biller is not in GCash’s list, the app may instead give you a GCash number or a bank account for an InstaPay transfer; the steps are the same, with the reference number typed into the message field. GCash or Maya for loans covers the differences between the two wallets.

Maya

Identical shape: Bills, find the biller, reference number, amount, confirm. Where the lender is not a Maya biller, the app will give you an account for a bank transfer instead. Keep the Maya receipt the same way.

Cebuana Lhuillier

Cebuana’s bills payment counter uses one form for every biller, which is why the same slip turns up whether you are paying a loan, a utility or a tuition fee. On the form:

• Biller / merchant: the company name from the app, not the brand.
• Account number / reference: the number from the repayment screen.
• Account name: your name exactly as it appears on the loan.
• Amount in figures and words, and your contact number.

Hand over the cash plus the service fee, and keep the printed receipt — the transaction number on it is what the lender will ask for if posting fails. Over-the-counter payments typically reach the lender in one to three banking days.

M Lhuillier

The same fields on M Lhuillier’s bills payment form: biller, reference or account number, payer name, amount, contact number. Some branches ask for an ID for amounts above their threshold. Same advice on the receipt, and the same one-to-three-day posting window.

SM Bills Payment

At SM department store and supermarket bills payment counters, fill in the biller name, your reference number, your name and the amount on the counter slip. SM issues a validated receipt; keep it. Posting follows the same over-the-counter timeline.

7-Eleven and other convenience stores

Where the lender supports it, the app generates a barcode or payment code; the cashier scans it and you pay cash. The code carries your reference, so the only thing to check is the amount and the printed receipt.

Bank transfer

When the lender gives you a bank account, transfer through your own bank’s app with InstaPay for amounts up to ₱50,000 (credited in near real time) or PESONet for larger amounts (credited the same banking day if sent within the cut-off). Put your reference number in the remarks or message field; a transfer without it is money the lender has to hunt for.

Timing, and the penalty you are avoiding

Pay two days before the due date if you are using a counter, and the day before if you are using a wallet. The reason is the penalty: for a covered small loan, a licensed lender may charge up to 5% a month on the overdue amount since the April 2026 ceiling, and a payment sitting in a posting queue on the due date is, on the lender’s ledger, late. If a payment is genuinely going to be missed, what happens if you don’t pay an online loan sets out what the lender may and may not do next.

What to keep

Every receipt, until the app shows the loan settled and for a month after. Receipts are the only evidence that survives a dispute, and a screenshot costs nothing. For the next loan, it is also worth knowing which channel posted fastest: Finbro versus MoneyCat compares the two confirmed direct lenders on terms as well as repayment.