Question

Give examples of five popular e-wallets in Malaysia and briefly discuss each of its pros and cons.

Answer 1

Boost-• Use: Smartphone Top Up, F&B, Shopping, Pasar Malam, Food Trucks, Festivals, KLIA Ekspres, Parking • Withdrawal: Yes (Premium Wallet users) 2 percent RM2 fixed charge • Features: Cashback (shake it!), Discounts • Earnings: 5.0 percent

FavePay- Use: F&B, Shopping, BIG Points • Withdrawal: No (N / A as purchases made via the Credit Card) • Features: Connected to Fave discount app / site; Cashback available at the same retailer • Earnings: 5.0 percent – 10.0 percent • Verdict: FavePay is not really an e-wallet as it does not store cash but is more an extension of Fave (previously Groupon). It does however offer merchants cashback / freebies. You may also attach a connection to your AmEx card.

GrabPay- • Use: GrabCar, KLIA Ekspres, F&B, Shopping, Entertainment • Withdrawal: Case-by-case basis (you can also transfer) • Features: Reward Points, Tiered Reward Memberships • Earnings: 5.8% – 8.8% (Gold) • Verdict: if you take GrabPay regularly.

BigPay- Use: AirAsia Flights, Big Points, Favorable Exchange Rates, Free P2P Transfers • Withdrawal: RM6 (Malaysia), RM10 (Overseas) • Features: Functions such as Prepaid MasterCard, P2P Transfers (daily cap RM2,000) • Earnings: ~0.1 percent of top-up / spend cash equivalent in Big Points. ~3.0 percent with 0 percent MasterCard exchange rate fees • Verdict: BigPay lets you save on AirAsia credit card payments and international transactions, because you can now travel with AirAsia.

Razer Pay- • Use: Smartphone Top Up, Virtual (Gaming) Money, F&B • Withdrawal: Yes (for confirmed users) • Features: Razer Shop, P2P Transfer • Earnings: 0.0 per cent (but if you convert to Razer's own digital currency zGold, you get about 10.0 per cent extra zGold for Razer Store purchases) • Verdict: Mostly useful if you're a Razer fan / gamer. The latest free launch promo for the RM10 has also been quite a mess.

Pros and cons are:

If all transactions are registered, keeping track of their spending would be very simple for people which will result in better budgeting. It will also help when filing tax returns and people will find it easy to justify their expenses in case of any investigation by authorities. Various e-wallet apps and tools can help individuals analyze their spending patterns and provide insights over a selected period of time.

Generally speaking, digital transactions are safer, and can be tracked more accurately, reducing possible fraud cases. Plus, all e-wallets require some form of verification before payment, which means they can't steal the money in your e-w even if someone steals your phone

Although the convenience of e-wallets is not denied, it could open up a spending pit for the unaware. If you use physical cash instead of something digital, the pain of parting with money feels more real. Using cash instead of e-wallets therefore serves as a convenient stopgap measure for people who find it hard to manage their spending. This means using an e-wallet could promote wasteful spending, throwing your budget into disarray.

The risk of identity fraud and the loss of confidential information is another major concern. Even well-educated people run the risk of falling into phishing traps or inadvertently giving away their personal information because we are culturally not tuned to digital transactions. Combined with the growing incidence of online fraud, the risk of hacking will only increase as more people move on to the digital platform.