I have this prepaid SIM with me for a few years now, primarily using the GCASH – AMEX service for my Paypal account transactions. I am not really a regular Globe user since most of my relatives, friends and colleagues are using Smart or Sun Cellular. So given that, I seldom use this number.

The Story

Today, I plan to transfer some credits of my GCash account to my Globe prepaid SIM by utilizing the Self Load service, just to keep my prepaid account active. Dang! The online tool returned BAD MSISDN and wasn’t able to complete the transaction. I already have this bad feeling that the SIM got deactivated due to no loading and charging transactions made in the past months. I verified this by checking the physical SIM and indeed, it has already no signal, marked as “Out of Service” and now an expired Globe prepaid SIM! It is now too late to do such thing!

Contacting Globe: Expired Globe Prepaid SIM

Being nonplussed, I immediately contacted Globe Customer Service through http://chat.globe.com.ph and told the representative about my problem. Contacting them today was easy and I am able to talk to a live agent in a matter of seconds. Maybe because it is early morning? (I already use the chat service many times before for inquires.) The CSR told me that the SIM has expired due to inactivity for the past 120 days. And the unhappy statement here is: “There is no way to activate an expired prepaid SIM.” So sad! There is also no way to retain the old number. -_- She just advised me to buy a new prepaid SIM and make sure I top up the SIM card within 120 days and also do a charging transaction (like sending a text message).

So, here it is. Even if you have credits left on your GCash account, the mobile number itself still needs to be reloaded and use for regular mobile transactions to keep the account active.

My GCash Account

Luckily, the credits (or money) left on my GCash account is below 50 pesos. Not that much to lose. Now, I am worried about purchasing a new SIM and do the Know Your Customer process again. More here: How to Verify Paypal Account using Globe GCASH AMEX. Why? I might have multiple GCash accounts  and since GCash is already being monitored by Bangko Sentral, it may introduce a problem later on. I sent an e-mail to GCash inquiries and currently waiting for their response.

Let’s see how things work out.

Update. It is just fine to have two GCash accounts. As the other one will be deactivated soon. In my case, I bought a new SIM and undergone the usual KYC process. Then, I used a different e-mail address when I signed up to GCash AMEX.