In time, we will see a few clear winners in the e-wallets race, pretty much like Alipay in China. For now, potential customers can have fun and enjoy being courted by these companies.
Some of them are pretty generous with their welcome and referral bonuses – good for us!
Here are four popular e-wallets…
1. Lazada
Best for: Regular Lazada users
Best features:
- Super fast refund on order cancellations. Your money is refunded in a matter of minutes as opposed to hours/days it takes with other types of payment methods.
- Easy to top-up with credit card or online banking. Super seamless.
- No need to download an extra app. It’s integrated in the Lazada app itself.
- Sometimes they have extra cashback and offers if you buy stuff on Lazada using the Lazada wallet. You can even receive a RM20 voucher this way.
2. BigPay
Best for: Travel junkies and AirAsia users
Best features:
- Comes with a gorgeous-looking powder-blue MasterCard-branded debit card. You have to top up RM20 into your account first before they send you the card, but the card itself is free (RM20 will appear in your account).
- The app’s user interface is really good. Very clear instructions and security features are great.
- According to a Facebook user, the debit card’s overseas exchange rates are really good and similar to XE.com’s rates – that’s a HUGE plus.
- No processing fee if you use this card to buy AirAsia flights and that gives you RM4-RM16 in savings. Note: If you want the card for this feature, make sure to apply three to five working days before so there’s enough time for card delivery.
- You can collect BigPoints, which you can then use to redeem AirAsia flights.
- You can transfer money to friends for free.
- Many fees are waived for now (later on, they will charge a RM2.50 monthly fee if you don’t use the card at least once a month. Not a huge issue to be honest as MasterCard is accepted everywhere so it’s easy to use).
- Apparently the app is designed to be Mint-like. Purchases will be categorised for you.
- GENEROUS sign up and referral bonus.
Received this hack:
You can combine the BigPay card with the Public Bank Quantum credit card to earn 5% cashback.
How:
- Top up the amount in the BigPay debit card with the credit card.
- Use like normal, anywhere MasterCard is accepted.
- PROTIP: Reload on Monday to get ADDITIONAL 5% cashback. One time only, and remember to sms Public Bank. Go check Public bank for details of this particular promotion.
- This is a great card to buy stuff from overseas (that’s not priced in RM). You’re charged XE.com rates, which is amazing. Cards from normal banks NEVER give those kind of rates.
3. Fave Pay
Best for: Fave users (for non-users, it’s like Groupon but no minimum number of buyers to unlock deals).
Best features:
- Built-in the Fave platform and app, no need to download separately.
- Always have ongoing cashback promotions and offers. Many promo codes.
- The app can search places near you that give you extra promotions and cashback. The cashback deals are generous; between 5-30%.
- Accepts AMEX!
4. Boost
Best for: Buy discounted vouchers.
Best features:
- Lots of discounted vouchers available, including for Steam, Lazada, Zalora, 11th Street, MBO, Redbox, Grab, Mobile prepaid top-up and more. Many are discounted by 10-20%.
- Effectively better than Shopback for some purchases. Example: You can buy a RM50 Lazada voucher for RM45 from Boost and save 10% rather than get just 1% cashback from Shopback.
- Can transfer money to friends for free.
- They have a pay-with-QR-code feature.
- Integrated with Fave.
Other e-wallets out there:
- Touch N Go
- GrabPay
- WeChat Pay
- VCash
- KiplePay
- HotWallet
- MCash
- PrimeKeeper
- SamsungPay
- VeCash
E-wallets for a cashless society
There’s talk about e-wallets being an integral component in a cashless society. Cashless is good, sure. However, many still prefer using cash for payments.
As a rule, you should use cash unless there are financial incentives to using digital payment methods.
If it doesn’t give you discounts, cashback or loyalty points, stick to using cash. Forget QR codes, tap-and-pay systems or whatever other fancy thing is out there – they’re secondary to money-saving strategies.
This article first appeared in ringgitohringgit.com
Suraya is a corporate writer-for-hire and the blogger behind personal finance website Ringgit Oh Ringgit. She is more of a minimalist, less of a consumerist, a konon DIY enthusiast, a let’s-support-small-businesses-over-big-corporations kinda girl. Prior to her current role, she worked in various capacities within the non-profit industry.