Is going cashless the future of payments? While Singapore is nowhere near the top cashless countries of Canada, Sweden, the UK, and, closer to home, China and Japan, recent plans to implement cashless payment options at over 500 hawkers in Singapore are a big step in the right direction. With up to five digital bank licences to be granted in Singapore by mid-2020, expect rapid growth in the types of services being offered by mobile and digital wallet.
Here’s an overview of how current mobile wallets in Singapore work, and which are the best service providers in the market right now.
A complete guide to mobile wallets in Singapore: how they work and the most common mobile wallet service providers. |
Photo: iStock
How do mobile wallets in Singapore work?
A mobile wallet is a type of virtual wallet where users can send, receive, and store money, and pay for purchases through their smartphone.
In general, a mobile wallet service is delivered by and in collaboration with mobile service providers (e.g. SingTel), the smartphone you use and its e-payment solution (e.g. Apple Pay, GooglePay, SamsungPay), and financial institutions (e.g. banks).
What are the pros and cons of using a mobile wallet?
Mobile wallets are fast, secure, widely accepted, and work with rewards programs with participating merchants. With most mobile wallets, you can leave your physical wallet at home or in the office as you no longer need to swipe your physical credit card or sign a receipt. All you have to do is tap your mobile device on the payment terminal to process the transaction. An example of this is the SimplyGo service on public transport.
With the recent national rollout of a unified QR code which accepts 27 e-payment methods such as GrabPay, AliPay, FavePay, Nets, PayLah and Dash, most major merchants now also accept some form of mobile payment.
In addition, tapping your phone at certain merchants also earn you loyalty or reward points, and even exclusive rebates and discounts.
But a mobile wallet is not perfect. While many e-payment solutions are widely accepted, some neighbourhood shops or hawker centres still prefer cash. You also need to remember to top up your digital wallet via a credit card or bank account.
Being a technology-based payment service, it may also be prone to technical glitches like app loading problems or network delays, during which the service or mobile payment solution is temporarily down.
Mobile wallets in singapore. | Photo: iStock
Which is the best mobile wallet in Singapore?
There are a multitude of mobile wallet options but largely, they fall into two categories: bank-owned wallets and non-bank wallets. “Best” is subjective but one way to assess the “best” wallet would be to see how widely accepted they are, not just in Singapore but across the region when it comes to making and receiving payments, as well as how easy they are to use.
DBS Bank’s PayLah mobile wallet stands out not only for its standard features and benefits but for its value-added exclusive privileges as well.
For example, DBS PayLah also offers worldwide protection for your phone against loss, theft and accidental damage (covers unauthorised transactions and usage of airtime/data, reimbursement of withdrawn cash due to robbery, and replacement of personal documents); and a travel insurance plan (covers pre-existing medical conditions, baggage loss or damage of up to $8,000, overseas medical expenses of up to $1 million, and emergency medical evacuation of up to $1 million).
|
|---|
| Name |
Best For |
Countries |
Currencies |
iOS/
Android? |
| Bank-owned mobile wallets |
| DBS PayLah |
Recurring Bill Payment |
Singapore |
SGD |
Both |
| UOB Mighty |
Dining |
Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia |
AUD, CAD, CHF, CHN, EUR, GBP, HKD, JPY, NZD, SGD, USD |
Both |
| OCBC Pay Anyone |
All Category Spendings |
Singapore |
SGD |
Both |
| Non-bank mobile wallets |
| GrabPay |
Ride-Hailing, Daily Purchases |
Southeast Asia |
SGD |
Both |
| AliPay |
Global Online Payment Protection |
Global |
SGD, RMB |
Both |
| WeChat Pay |
Global Payment, Transactions between friends |
Global |
RMB |
Both |
| SingTel Dash |
Top-Up On-The-Go |
Singapore |
SGD |
Both |
| FavePay |
Daily Purchases |
Singapore, Malaysia |
SGD, MYR |
Both |
| Multi-currency mobile wallets |
| YouTrip |
Travelling |
Worldwide |
150 Currencies |
Both |
| Revolut |
Travelling |
Worldwide |
14 Currencies |
Both |
Strengths and weaknesses of bank-owned mobile wallets
DBS PayLah
Most Singaporeans have a DBS or POSB account so it stands to reason that DBS PayLah is the most widely used and accepted mobile wallet. You can send or request funds from anyone, including non-DBS/POSB customers, via a simple mobile phone number. That’s right — you no longer need to know the bank account number of the recipient or deal with things like SWIFT or branch codes. With DBS PayLah, you can also:
- Use QR Codes and Payment Links to pay a merchant
- Scan to Pay at NETS Terminals
- Browse DBS featured merchants on the app
- Split bills with friends
- Pay to over 58 billing organisations
- Face/Touch ID/fingerprint authentication
What makes DBS PayLah stands out is its auto-debit feature from your linked bank account when you have insufficient mobile wallet balance. It can also send Whatsapp notifications when you send or request for funds.
UOB Mighty
UOB Mighty by UOB stands out in terms of exclusive debit/credit card deals across 4 neighbouring Asian countries (Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia) and competitive foreign exchange rates across 11 major currencies (AUD, CAD, CHF, CHN, EUR, GBP, HKD, JPY, NZD, SGD, USD).
UOB Mighty is also accepted at a wide range of partner merchants, many of them dining establishments. In fact, it offers dining deals from over 3,200 restaurants in Singapore.
OCBC Pay Anyone
OCBC customers can request for money or send money to anyone via a personalised QR code; make NETS QR purchases up to a daily limit of $1,000; and pay for your dining, shopping; transport needs via QR code at NETS terminal at partner merchants.
Using OCBC Pay Anyone allows you to pay anyone in Singapore as it has a wide range of OCBC partner merchants across major categories such as cinemas, retail shops, convenience stores, food and beverages, and wellness and beauty, including Cathay Cineplexes, TADA, and Koufu.
A downside is the daily transaction limit of $1,000 while OCBC Pay Anyone is also not widely accepted across the region yet.
Strengths and weaknesses of non-bank mobile wallets
GrabPay
GrabPay is best known to regular users of Grab since you can just top-up prepaid GrabPay credits for your Grab rides. Moreover, you can send or receive GrabPay credits to others without a hitch.
When you link your debit or credit card for payment, you will also earn card benefits and reward points on your Grab ride. Check out this article of the 5 credit cards to use for Grab rides.
GrabPay is rapidly adding and growing its network of partner merchants, as well as adding services like GrabFood, GrabDelivery and even hotels and e-scooter services on its platform to expand the use of its e-wallet.
AliPay
AliPay is a global payment platform with over 400 million users around the world to make secure online payments.
Backed by Chinese tech giant Alibaba, AliPay uses the most advanced encryption technology to ensure personal information and online payments are protected and never compromised to any third party. AliPay promises full amount reimbursement, 90-day payment protection, and response within 5 business days after receiving your complaint for any unauthorised transactions using your AliPay account.
Moreover, AliPay offers a full refund if you do not receive your order, and refund or keep items not as described. You can open an Alipay account in Singapore but you need a Chinese mobile number and a Chinese credit card in order to transfer funds to your Alipay mobile wallet.
In Singapore, AliPay is widely accepted at international restaurants or merchants targeted at Chinese tourists.
WeChat Pay
WeChat Pay is an integral part of the daily lives of Chinese consumers as it enables them to make payments anytime and anywhere with just their mobile phone.
WeChat Pay has made the physical wallet obsolete in China as it’s supported and accepted almost everywhere, including taxi, supermarkets, restaurants and hospitals. WeChat Pay also connects overseas vendors directly to Chinese consumers. When Chinese consumers buy goods in a foreign country, they can follow vendors’ Official Accounts to pay their transactions.
WeChat Pay can also handle multiple payment methods via Quick Pay, QR Code, In-App Web-Based, or Native In-App Payment.
In addition, WeChat Pay supports major foreign currencies. Customers pay in Chinese renminbi (RMB) but the transaction is settled in a foreign currency. The drawback of WeChat Pay is that it’s still mostly targeted at Chinese consumers.
An all-in-one mobile wallet, it allows you to top-up your Singtel prepaid account or other Dash accounts (no admin fees) to pay VIA partner merchants in Thailand and Singapore, and Visa payWave partner merchants worldwide. You can also pay for your online purchases using the Dash Visa Virtual Account.
SingTel Dash also allows you to transfer funds within Singapore and to India, China, Myanmar, Indonesia, Philippines and Bangladesh.
Users also enjoy up to 6% cashback when they dine, ride, and shop with partner dining, shopping and transport merchants (capped at $50 per transaction). These include online and retail stores like FairPrice, Watsons, iHerb, Agoda, Cheers and more.
Despite the multitude of product features, partner merchants and exclusive deals, SingTel Dash lacks the geographical reach and network of merchants that other mobile wallets possess.
FavePay
FavePay is a fast and easy way to pay with your mobile device and get instant cashback at your favourite merchants. FavePay accepts all debit/credit cards (e.g. Visa, MasterCard, American Express), Paypal, Boost Payment, Air Asia Big Points, GrabPay (available in Singapore only), and Alipay (applicable for selected FavePay partners only).
You can also receive online payments from banks (available in Malaysia only): RHB Now, Affin Bank, Am Online, Bank Islam, CIMBClicks, Maybank2u, Public Bank, OCBC Bank, Hong Leong Connect.
Currently, the FavePay payment option is only available at partner merchants in Singapore and selected Malaysian cities (e.g. Ipoh, Penang, Kuching, Klang Valley, Johor Bahru, and Kota Kinabalu).
Multi-currency mobile wallets
YouTrip by EZ-Link
Source: YouTrip
YouTrip is a multi currency mobile wallet app that lets you convert and make payments without transaction fees in over 150 currencies. It’s also available in a physical card by Mastercard which you can use over the counter overseas. You can use the app to monitor and exchange up to 10 currencies conveniently on your mobile phone with rates updated real-time.
Super convenient because it allows you to skip those long queues at traditional money changers. The exchange rates are generally not as good as those offered by money changers at Mustafa or Change Alley, but better than most banks’ over-the-counter rates. What’s more is that you can also easily top up your YouTrip wallet with any SGD credit or debit card (for up to SGD3,000) that’s stored on your phone.
One major drawback, however, is there’s currently no way to exchange excess foreign currency after your overseas trip back to Singapore dollar so only exchange enough money to cover your trip expenses. Also, there’s a $5 a month charge if you do not use your card or app for 12 months in a row.
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Source: Revolut
Recently launched, Revolut is 1 of 4 multi-currency mobile wallets now available in Singapore. Through its app available for both Android and Apple users, you are able to convert, make payments, transfer and receive money on-the-go without transaction fees.
Once you’ve created an account via its app, you can request for a physical Revolut card that will give you access to its cash withdrawal feature. This enables you to withdraw up to S$350 in cash every month at any ATM around the world without transaction fees. Any withdrawal amount above S$350 will incur a 2% charge, if you are on their Standard account. That being said, Revolut offers premium paid accounts that gives subscribers higher cash withdrawal and transfer limits; amongst its other additional features.
Just one small setback, users in Singapore currently only have access to 14 currencies; these include the Singapore dollar, British pound, Euro and US dollar. However, plans are in place for another 14 currencies, which include the Indian rupee and Malaysian ringgit, to be added in the near future. mobile wallets in singapore
This article was republished on theAsiaparent with permission from SingSaver. SingSaver is a personal finance comparison platform which provides free, quick and easily accessible resources to help consumers understand personal finance products in Singapore; including credit cards, personal loans and travel insurance.
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