50+ E-Wallets in Malaysia: Which Are The Best?

Looking for the best e-wallets in Malaysia for your own use, but not sure which to pick? What are the options out there? What features are available?

Let me help you with that. In this article, I’d like to share the best e-wallets in Malaysia, as compared in their respective categories.

List of E-wallets in Malaysia: 50++

As of July 2023, there are 50 ‘non-bank e-money issuer’ listed in Bank Negara Malaysia.

However, I wouldn’t consider this as the complete list of e-wallets in Malaysia. It’s not. Just because an e-wallet is listed above, it doesn’t mean they are operational. The e-wallets may be in early stages, or dormant.

There are also MORE e-wallets than listed. For example, I noticed AirAsia’s ewallet isn’t listed, and maybe that’s because their ewallet component is combined with BigPay? Idk.

Regardless, it’s a start. In this article, I have selected some popular e-wallets in Malaysia and listed them under 9 categories according to what they are best used for. I will then pick a favourite (or two) from each category.

Let’s start with..

#1 – The Big Three e-wallets in Malaysia

You know which Big Three e-wallets I’m talking about. List of ewallets in Malaysia in this category:

• TnG ewallet
• Grab ewallet
• Boost ewallet

Use it for: discounts/cashback/vouchers, cash handouts from the govt, the widest range of features*

(*features as of July 2023: ride-hailing, food delivery, send and receive money, remittance buy movie tickets, pay parking, pay bills, buy mobile top-up, send deliveries, buy insurance, invest in unit trust, hire service providers, book hotels and travel packages, make donations and more)

Best e-wallet in Malaysia in this category: It’s not a bad idea to have all 3 e-wallets – TnG ewallet, Grab ewallet and Boost ewallet – as they truly have impressive range of features, and keep on adding more.

#2 – E-wallets that comes with debit/prepaid cards

Next are the ones that feature Visa or Mastercard debit/prepaid cards. List of ewallets in Malaysia in this category:

• BigPay (use code ‘INLALP7ZLE’ to get free RM10)
• Wise (use this link to get fee-free transfer up to RM2500)
• KiplePay – ‘designed for students’
• Merchantrade Money – for cross-border money transfer (ie remittance)
• GoPayz (also provides takaful, investment, zakat payment etc)

Use it for: travelling, transfering money, better currency exchange rates (good for buying stuff priced in USD etc), budgeting interface and expense tracker

Best e-wallet in Malaysia in this category: From user feedback, Wise and Bigpay both have better currency exchange rate than the rest (let me know if otherwise)

#3 – E-wallets for ‘lifestyle’

In addition to The Big Three, other e-wallets which belong in this category are:

• airasia pocket – AirAsia’s super app
• B-Infinite ewallet – loyalty programme
• Zapp ewallet – collab with MYAirlines
• JuruPay ewallet
• MCash ewallet
• Wanna ewallet – ‘chat commerce app powered by AI’
• GoPay – e-wallet for passive income? Has an MLM-ish structure, a bit sus
• And more

Use it for: discounts, making payments

Best e-wallet in Malaysia in this category: Unless there are discounts worth getting, I would stick to The Big Three (#1)

#5 – E-wallets by e-commerce platforms

Next are e-wallets by e-commerce platform. Tbh if I’m an e-commerce platform, I’d make an e-wallet too. Getting users to spend all the money in the e-wallet ONLY in my platform is a great strategy!

E-wallets which belong in this category are:

• ShopeePay ewallet
• Lazada Wallet
• Presto ewallet (by PrestoMall)

Use it for: discounts and/or free shipping, additional payment protection, instalment options

Best e-wallet in Malaysia in this category: Depends on which e-commerce store you use the most. Mine is ShopeePay ewallet

#6 – E-wallets for certain locations/services

And now the e-wallets get kookier 🙂 These e-wallets act as wallets and loyalty programme of sorts. Leaders in this category:

• SarawakPay ewallet
• 1Pay ewallet (1Utama mall’s e-wallet)
• AEON ewallet
• Setel ewallet – Petronas’s e-wallet for petrol payments
• CaltexGO ewallet – Caltex’s e-wallet for petrol payments

Use it for: cashback, discounts, loyalty points, state pride

Best e-wallet in Malaysia in this category: Depends on which state you live in/ which mall or petrol station you use. Setel’s UI/UX deserves a shoutout though – so good.

#7 – E-wallets for very specific target audiences/use case

This is my favourite category of e-wallets in Malaysia. Rather than saying ‘we serve everyone’, they have identified a very specific target audience

Leaders in this category:

• Instapay – for employers to pay salary for (foreigner) employees
• Vircle – for parents to ‘safely introduce children to the world of contactless payments, teaching them responsible spending and consumption habits’
• Fasspay – e-wallet white label solution, aka for businesses that want to create an e-wallet

Of all the rest, I see this list growing more in the future! #blueoceanstrategy

Best e-wallet in Malaysia in this category: Highly dependent on what feature you’re looking for

#8 – International e-wallets

You know these names – they are established international companies. Some of them have registed in Malaysia, some haven’t.

Leaders in this category:

• Paypal – for people who send/receive money internationally
• GPay – for Android users
• Samsung Pay – for Samsung users
• ApplePay – for Apple users

Best e-wallet in Malaysia in this category: Depends which of these services you already use

#9 – E-wallets by Malaysian banks

And last but not least, there are the good ol’ e-wallets by Malaysian banks and digital banks.

Note that these are not e-wallets in the strictest sense (since they are not ‘non-bank money issuer’) yet many of us do use our banks’ mobile apps and treat them as e-wallets.

List of ewallets in Malaysia in this category:

• MAE by Maybank
• UOB TMRW
• CIMB Clicks
• RHB
• HLB Connect
• HSBC
• Bank Islam
• AmOnline
• Allianceonline Mobile
• iRakyat Mobile banking
• OCBC
• AffinSecure
• Rize, the digital bank by Alrajhi Bank
• and more

Best e-wallet in Malaysia in this category: I’ve only used a few, but can say MAE by Maybank app is pretty good. Great UI/UX.

On the flip side, I’ve heard not-so-good things about CIMB Clicks and Bank Islam bank apps

Which ones do you think are the best e-wallets in Malaysia?

So, how many e-wallets do you currently have installed? How many are you using regularly? Which one is your favourite? Which ones do you want to check out? Let me know in the comments!

As someone who is in full support of the digital economy, I do encourage you to check out the above e-wallet players – especially #7 – and see if they can solve any of your existing problems.

Bonus section: Benefits and disadvantages of e-wallets in Malaysia

Just a quick section highlighting the main advantages and disadvantages of e-wallets that you must know.

Benefits of e-wallets – safe and convenient

The obvious benefits of using e-wallets are the safety and convenience factor. *If* fraud or theft happens, it’s mostly because the users need to have better digital security practices. Contactless and cashless transactions also mean you’ll avoid dealing with banknotes, which may carry germs.

Related: Verify Touch ‘n Go eWallet & 3 More 5-Minute Security Hacks

You also can’t argue with the convenience factor*. It is easy to make e-wallet payments. Topping up is also easy (too easy perhaps).

*except for iPhones users – we all know making e-wallet payments is a bit mafan because Touch ID > Face ID

Disadvantages of e-wallets – too many options; dark patterns

Too many options isn’t a bad thing, except it kinda is, when you consider most e-wallet platforms don’t allow withdrawals. Once you add funds to it, you can only spend/transfer out to friends/family.

I’d also like to point out Dark patterns – the UI/UX tricks that companies do to get you to spend more. Some of them are fairly innocent, like using count-down timers to encourage faster checkouts.

Others are borderline unethical, like GrabPay implementing Buy Now, Pay Later to give a false sense of affordability and encourage unnecessary spending.

Alright that’s all. Stay safe while using e-wallets kids!