emlWhich is the best e-wallet in Malaysia?
You might wonder, but currently it is probably impossible that one e-wallet able to fit for all.
Ever since the lockdown, I am fully depends on e-wallets for everything. It is not hard to realise e-wallets usage is growing in Malaysia too. I used to bring cash to takeaway food from the food courts, but these days we can even pay using e-wallet for some of the vendors.
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Some of the common e-wallets in Malaysia:
- Touch ‘n Go eWallet
- GrabPay
- Boost
- BigPay
- WeChat Pay MY
- MAE
- Setel
- Fave
- GoPayz
- ShopeePay
- Lazada Wallet
Of course above are just some of the more common ones in Malaysia. There are more out there, some of the e-wallets are designed just for certain places or platforms.
Categories for best e-wallet in Malaysia:
- Most Widely Accepted
- Rewards
– by every RM1 spending
– by partnership merchants cashback
– by cashbacks
– by vouchers - Bill payments
- BNPL – Buy Now Pay Later
- Overseas transactions
- Interest generating
Best e-wallet in Malaysia by categories
Here are the best e-wallet in Malaysia (from my personal experience) for each of the categories under normal situation (without take into account the seasonal or limited time promotions):
1) Most Widely Accepted: Touch ‘n Go eWallet
Undeniable, Touch ‘n Go eWallet are the most widely accepted everywhere. According to their official website, currently they have over 360,000 merchants.
2) (i) Rewards by every RM1 spending: GrabPay
As GrabPay reward system is by points, the more you spend the more you earn. The point rewards are quite attractive as well.
For every 160 points you can claim reward for RM1, so your rewards rate are depend on your membership tier as well. If you would like to know more, previously I had written about the GrabPay on how to maximise your rewards and review on their Platinum membership,
However, the earning of points on GrabPay have certain limitations. Bill payments are not eligible for earning points. Besides, you should be paying using GrabPay Wallet instead of cash or cards in order to be awarded with points. They have explained in details on their official website, you can check them out too.
2) (ii) Rewards by partnership merchants cashback: Fave
Partnership merchants cashback here refer to the cashback earned from spending at a merchant can only be deducted against next spending at the same merchant.
If you are using FavePay, normally you can check this kind of cashback at the partner cashback section. Other than Fave, Boost do have similar cashback as well known as partner wallets.
A bonus for using FavePay. On top of the partner cashback of Fave, you can opt to to pay by Boost or GrabPay. In this way you could to double your rewards.
2) (iii) Rewards by cashbacks: Shopee
Unlike partnership cashback, for Cashback, you are able to use the cashback balance for whatever or wherever you prefer. Since there is no limitation on the merchants.
I personally think Shopee have the most varieties. From ShopeePay voucher section, you can purchase the 1 sen voucher that you would like to use. The vouchers available might different from time to time and ensure you reads the information or terms and conditions before you purchase. Especially the “where to use” section, as the branch you visit might not eligible to redeem the voucher.
Of course, the other e-wallets also do offer cashback for merchants from time to time. You can just check out the e-wallets banners for latest promotions. You probably would heard the promotions from your colleagues or friends and family.
2) (iv) Rewards by vouchers: Touch ‘n Go eWallet / Boost
Personally, I would opt Touch’ n Go ewallet for this category, yet I found that Boost do offer vouchers that Touch’ n Go ewallet did not. For instance, PlayStation, Spotify or Viu.
3) Bill Payments: MAE / Boost
In terms of number of billers, I guess MAE have the most. But considering the fact of using MAE does not have reward stars like Boost do, I added in Boost.
While writing this post, I counted over 30 different billers on Boost. We can now pay utilities bills, telecommunication bills even PTPTN online using e-wallet.
4) BNPL – Buy Now Pay Later: GrabPay
Disclaimer upfront! I’m not encouraging the use of “Buy Now Pay Later” (BNPL) payment method. It often directly or indirectly increase the risk of personal financial issues, such as indirectly increase unnecessary spending or spend more than earning. Unless you are really discipline with managing your personal finance, else don’t opt for BNPL.
Back to BNPL. The few e-wallets that offering BNPL method I know are GrabPay, ShopeePay and FavePay.
I think the best e-wallet for BNPL is GrabPay mainly because of the rebate they are offering currently. I got an extra RM30 rebate for my last purchase by using the BNPL service by GrabPay.
Anyway, it is recommended to only spend the money you have. Do not get into debt just to purchase something that will become a clutter soon.
5) Overseas transactions: BigPay
BigPay came with a Visa or Mastercard which similar to a debit card. One of the biggest selling point of BigPay would be the attractive currency exchange rate. Which is why BigPay is the winner of this category.
6) Interest generating: Touch ‘n Go eWallet
So far the only e-wallet that I know which generates interest on top of your e-wallet balances. It became a main feature of Touch ‘n Go eWallet. (7th November 2021: Now are even better, Touch ‘n Go eWallet are giving an extra 4% bonus returns for a limited time period. Read more here.)
My Personal Combination of Best E-wallet in Malaysia
My main e-wallet would be GrabPay. Anything that able to pay using GrabPay, it will always be my first choice. Unless there are seasonal promotions going on on other e-wallets, which is rare.
If any payment that unable to pay using GrabPay, such as Taobao, I will use Touch ‘n Go eWallet. Touch ‘n Go eWallet covers almost everything with it’s merchants that over 350,000. Also, I often buy vouchers on Touch ‘n Go eWallet like Lazada vouchers.
I will use Fave if the merchants I spending on are available for partner cashback and pair it with GrabPay to maximise the rewards. There are a few cafes in my area with FavePay, so I make use of Fave as well.
Lastly, ShopeePay mostly used for Shopee purchases in order to enjoy free shipping. I don’t use Lazada wallet as much as ShopeePay. It does not offer much rewards from my point of view. I prefer to purchase and use Lazada vouchers as mentioned above. (Friendly reminder, Lazada vouchers might not worth for some purchases, so make sure you look out for other promotions offered from time to time.)
Apps / Platforms to Pair With E-wallets for Maximum Rewards
There are more apps that I know, but currently only one that I feel worth to mention.
1) ZCity
Mainly, I use this app to buy Shopee vouchers and get cashback from Touch ‘n Go eWallet.
Furthermore, now they are having this minimum spend RM20 and get RM2 cashback promotion going on.
In the end,
Everyone have different needs and different combinations of e-wallet. I hope the above can help you find the best e-wallet that suits you.
Leave comments below, if any information that you would like to share or to correct me.
Friendly reminder, above information are based on the information available to me while writing this post. The information might be different when you read this post. Always refer to the official websites for more details information.
