ePemula: Which eWallet is the most “worth it” to claim, between Touch ‘n Go, Grab, BigPay and Shopee?

[ UPDATE 13:35 14/4/2022 ] Grab replied to tweets and comments that are complaining about the vouchers by saying that users will “get another RM150 worth of GrabFood Hot Deals vouchers and RM60 worth of various merchant partner vouchers”. Read more about it.

If you’re between 18 and 20 years old—or are a full-time university student—you’re able to claim a one-off eWallet credit of RM150 thanks to the ePemula initiative. Starting today until 1 June, you can choose between Touch n’ Go eWallet, GrabPay, BigPay, and Shopee. But which eWallet is the most worth it? We’ll break it down for you.

ePemula is an initiative by the Malaysian Government “to help promote cashless transactions”. You’re able to claim the credit if you’re a full-time student enrolled in courses equivalent to a diploma or SKM4 (Level 4 Malaysian Skills Certificate) and above in recognised public and private higher learning institutions. It’s also open to students who are graduating this year but are still part of the enrolment—like those with an active status as of January. Alternatively, you don’t have to be a student, you’d just need to be aged 18 to 20.

Those eligible will be able to choose between the four eWallets identified by the government, and the RM150 credit can only be used for offline purchases. The last date to spend the credit is on 10 June.

Touch ‘n Go eWallet

Since the RM150 of ePemula credit can only be used for offline transactions, Touch ‘n Go boasted that its eWallet is the “largest eWallet in Malaysia” with “more than 500k merchant touch points and more than 1 million merchant touch points with DuitNow QR”. In addition to the RM150 credit, eligible users will also be able to get an eWallet voucher bundle worth up to RM200 as well as AliPay+ rewards of up to RM100.

The eWallet voucher bundles can include different sets of vouchers from essentials like 7-Eleven, MyNews, CU, and Watsons, F&B options like MarryBrown, and others like Fave, and for RFID tag purchases. However, these are on a “first come, first serve” basis. As for the AliPay+ rewards of up to RM100, you’re able to get discounts for things like Tealive, Google Play, FamilyMart, Setel, and Shell using AliPay+. Granted, it looks like these vouchers (if they’re anything like the vouchers you can claim on the app already) are only a few Ringgit at a time, and a lot of them are cashback vouchers.

Download Touch ‘n Go eWallet – iOS, Android, Huawei

GrabPay

According to Grab, you would get “RM360 worth of vouchers that you can use to spend on GrabFood, electronics, health & beauty products, and more.” This includes RM150 for ePemula, RM150 worth of GrabFood vouchers as well as RM60 worth of merchant promotions.

Many users have complained that Grab had “scammed” them, as the eligible users who claimed with Grab aren’t even given the proper RM150 worth of credit. Rightfully, users would be able to get a full RM150 for any offline transactions with the eWallet. With Grab’s “vouchers”, users aren’t able to do that. According to their terms and conditions, their ePemula “reward” is only “valid with a minimum spend of RM5/RM10/RM15/RM20/RM30”.

For the GrabFood vouchers, Grab says that they could only be used for GrabFood’s Hot Deals section. Successful claimants via GrabPay will also “stand a chance to be part of Grab Malaysia’s internship programme”.

You can read more about what we discovered.

Download GrabPay – iOS, Android, Huawei

BigPay

With BigPay, the eWallet platform also says that you’re able to claim online vouchers worth up to RM1,500—as well as unlimited cashback. This is in addition to the RM150 credit you’re getting through ePemula.

The RM1,500 worth of online vouchers include a lot of the AirAsia (or, Capital A) related deals like for AirAsia flights, AirAsia food, AirAsia Grocer, and AirAsia Academy. There’s also other deals including for Sephora and Lululemon.

Download BigPay – iOS, Android

Shopee

Besides getting RM150 in your e-wallet, Shopee will give you an additional “RM500 worth of rewards”. This includes ShopeePay Vouchers and ShopeeFood delivery vouchers worth up to RM310—which are applicable to online food delivery orders. You’ll also be able to claim Shopee Mall Brand Vouchers worth up to RM50, cashback vouchers of up to RM90, and Sisma Mall vouchers of up to RM200.

Another benefit is that users will be able to get a 40GB SIM card pack from YES worth up to RM50. However, note that the ShopeePay, ShopeeFood, and Shopee Mall vouchers will be given out at random with a total value of up to RM500.

Shopee also claims that the first 200,000 eligible users who choose Shopee as their ePemula eWallet will get an “extra RM100”. However, this is likely to do with Shopee’s coins cashback—where the first 200,000 are able to scan any DuitNow QR to pay and get 3% coins cashback with no minimum spend.

Download Shopee – iOS, Android, Huawei

So, which one is the most “worth it”?

After looking through each eWallet’s extra benefits, they all have their own perks and you could be content with whichever one you choose as there aren’t any that absolutely stand out. But out of all of them, Shopee’s eWallet offers the most variety. Their extra rewards can be spent on online shopping, food delivery, cashback, and even on a YES SIM card.

For size of value, BigPay seems like it’s offering a huge amount of extra perks, worth RM1,500—the most out of any other eWallet. If you plan to fly AirAsia anytime soon, it BigPay might be the most worth it to you. But I’m not sure if the variety of what you can claim would be as wide as something like Shopee.

Honestly, the most bareboned ePemula offer is for Touch ‘n Go. However, the eWallet app is widely accepted as a form of eWallet payment in a lot more shops, in my experience. So, spending the RM150 would be extremely easy to do with Touch ‘n Go eWallet.

The eWallet we don’t want to recommend yet is GrabPay—as we’re a little concerned with their “offer“. Grab says users will get “RM360 worth of vouchers”—and it doesn’t say that it includes credit. According to their terms and conditions, the ePemula “reward” is only “valid with a minimum spend of RM5/RM10/RM15/RM20/RM30”. So if you want to buy something worth RM150, does that mean that you can’t use it fully?

But in any case, I’d recommend that you decide what eWallet to choose depending on the app you already use a lot—as those extra perks mainly include a lot of vouchers or cashback vouchers, something that would be totally useless to you if you don’t use the app enough. But do let me know what you ended up choosing in the comments.

Related reading

• ePemula: Youths can claim RM150 eWallet credit from 11 April via BigPay, Grab, Shopee and TNG eWallet
• eWallet acceptance will soon be a requirement for traders at markets
• These are the top 5 eWallets in Malaysia in 2019