5 Things We Learned From Going Cashless For A Week

Cash vs e-wallet: Judging by the trend of cashless ecosystem these days, it’s no longer the question of whether or not to set up an e-wallet, but which e-wallet app to download.

We recently took part in the GrabPay Cashless Challenge to see if GrabPay lives up to its title of the Best e-Wallet at the Malaysian e-Payments Excellence Awards 2019. Here’s our experience throughout the week:

What is e-wallet? Why is it better than a real wallet?

In case you have yet to adopt the culture of virtual payment, an e-wallet is a digital/electronic wallet you use in your smartphone. By having e-wallet, you can reload cash into it. Avoid queueing up at ATM machines or the inconvenience of carrying loose change in your pockets. Payment is just one scan away! Plus, you can keep tabs on your transaction history for better management on your expenditure.

What about safety issues you asked? If your smartphone gets stolen, you can always use another phone to log out of all your existing e-wallet logins. You can also avoid making a police report when your actual wallet goes missing.

1. Conveniency: All in one

Grab is the only app that integrates its ride-hailing service, GrabFood, and GrabExpress that allows you to make cashless transactions. Lazy to drive? Call a Grab ride. Craving for street food or restaurant dining? Get food and drinks delivered to your doorstep via GrabFood.

2. GrabRewards

Many of us were frustrated when Grab revamped their GrabRewards Points system. By going cashless for a week last month, we realised that there are still other methods to earn up to 9x GrabRewards during each transaction.

• When you top up your mobile prepaid. (Plus, you can even received a 20% rebate if you’re fast.)
• When you perform in-store purchases (and enjoy cashback rewards in the process). E.g.: We made a purchase of RM52.85 at Watsons and received 476 points plus RM11 cashback (more on this offer at #4).

3. Upgrade your Grab e-wallet

By upgrading your Grab e-wallet, users can unlock more features to enjoy. One of the main highlights is being able to perform credits transfer by sending instant payments to friends and family members. There are 2 ways to carry out the transaction:

• By scanning the recipient’s QR code in the app
• Enter the person’s local mobile number

In addition, an upgraded e-wallet can reload up to RM1500 and carry out a maximum daily transaction of RM1000. A basic e-wallet for the aforementioned is only RM500. Here’s a bonus, you’ll also get 500 GrabRewards points after successfully upgrading.

Side note: The 500 GrabRewards Points ended in November.

4. GrabPay Price

In conjunction with GrabPay Price campaign, we were pleasantly surprised to find out that users can save even more when taking advantage of GrabPay’s great promos. From F&B outlets to Health & Beauty stores, here are some of the deals that were available:

• Domino’s Pizza: Get a Regular Pizza for RM12.90 (N.P.: RM31.90) and a Large Pizza at RM19.90 (N.P.: RM42.90).
• Watsons: Enjoy a 20% rebate (up to RM12) when shopping both in-store and online. We bought some supplements as well as some skin care products as Christmas gifts for friends and family.
• The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf: 12oz Café Mocha / Café Vanilla / Café Au Lait at just RM10 (normal price: RM12.10 – RM14.65)

More awesome deals here.

5. Merchants to serve one’s daily needs

In an effort to make digital payments more seamless to the everyday consumer, Grab has partnered up with over 3000 merchants. Some of the new merchants include hypermarkets (Giant, Tesco and Mydin), health and beauty retailers (Watsons and Guardian), cinema outlet (MBO Cinemas), fast food chains (Dominos), convenience stores (99 Speedmart, KK Mart, Mr DIY) and other retailers such as Zalora and Petron.

With the addition of the variety of new merchants and services now accepting GrabPay, it’s even more convenient for Malaysians to go cashless!