BIGPAY REVIEW – DISCOVER HOW BIGPAY CAN MAKE YOUR LIFE EASIER AND SAVE YOU RM1500+
- Updated BigPay Review After Spending RM93337.02 On BigPay In 2019
- Watch the recording of the last BigPay draw
- What the winner of the last BigPay draw had to say
- Original BigPay Review
- What Is BigPay
- 4 Benefits of BigPay
- 5 Ways BigPay Has Made Life Easier
- BigPay’s Future
- FAQ
- BigPay Referral: Get RM10 When You Sign Up
Updated BigPay Review After spending RM93337.02 on BigPay in 2019
2019 was the first full year that I have used BigPay. As you can read below, the BigPay card has been my go to for everything in Malaysia, and especially out of Malaysia. As 2019 wrapped up, I (CS) was curious as to how much I had spent on the app. With the new analytics feature on BigPay, I figured it'd be the perfect chance to see what it can do, and what findings I will discover.
When I scrolled down and changed the annual chart to 2019, the number surprised me.
RM93,337.02.
I knew I had spent a lot, but didn't think it was THAT much. So I dug in more by exporting the information so I can actually see how it was categorized.
What the file showed me was a very different number….
I had almost spent 110,000 on the card.
This is how it looks broken out (note that the app has automatically decided how to categorize all my purchases).
As you can see in the photo above, the 3 largest expenses were Professional services at RM35,760.42, Cash RM19,585.06 at and Financial Services at RM13,164.95.
Professional services are, for the most part, the amount of money being invested into this site to help create useful content so that you can improve your finances.
Cash are mostly ATM withdrawals from all the travels I did (about 4.5 months in 2019).
And financial services are for the most part, top-ups on Grab.
How much did I save in foreign exchange (FX) fees thanks to BigPay
It's fun to know how much I had spent, but more importantly, I want to know how much I had saved because of BigPay.
In order to do that, I looked up my total spend that was not paid in MYR. I will assume that I have saved 1.5% in fees compared to a typical credit card (most credit cards charge between 1-3% in foreign exchange fees, but BigPay does not charge any FX fees).
My total foresign spend for 2019 is RM66595.44. Which means I saved RM998.93 in FX fees.
That's almost RM1000 (or RM2000 if I used 3% in fees saved)!
Although there are a lot of fees saved when using the BigPay card abroad, most of my savings actually came from professional services as many of the services that I use are paid in USD.
Lessons on ways to use BigPay
Besides the savings, here are a few ways I've used BigPay and the lessons to take away:
- The most important way I've used BigPay is having it as my main card I use when I travel. If the store accepts mastercard, it will definitely accept my BigPay card. This is also the best option because there are absolutely no fees charged by anyone for this which means I am paying the best price possible.
- The second most important way I use the BigPay card when traveling is by using it when I withdraw money from ATMs. BigPay will give us the real exchange rate and the only fees is the RM10 that BigPay charges and the foreign card fee that the ATM charges. But this beats having to go around trying to find out which money exchange place will give the best deal (and in almost all cases, that deal will still be worse than what I'm doing here).
Be careful when you use foreign ATMs. When you input how much money you want, they will ask if you want to instantly get charged in Malaysian RInggit instead of paying a conversion fee.
DON'T DO IT! The ATM will actually charge 3-5% which loses the whole point of you using BigPay to withdraw! - I've used the BigPay prepaid Mastercard to pay for anything that is not in Malaysian Ringgit. For example, any time I make a purchase through Amazon, I'm able to pay in USD without paying additional fees or a bad exchange rate for it.
This is especially true when you're building out a business and have a lot of expenses that is not paid in Malaysian Ringgit. In fact, I probably saved close to RM1000 by using BigPay to pay for MoreMoney expenses. - I combine BigPay with other ewallets for more benefits. For example, I top up my Grab Pay using my BigPay Mastercard, which means that (a) I get BIG points that allow me to redeem for Air Asia items or flight fees, and (b) I can continue to collect more Grab points that I can redeem for cheaper Grab rides or other rewards.
BigPay has been a useful addition to my daily life. All in all, I would definitely recommend getting yourself a card as it will not only save you money, but make your life a lot easier. It’s given me new ways to quickly pay back my friends and it has some huge foreign transaction options that benefit me when I travel.
It’s relatively new to the market but has been growing quickly. This means there will probably more features updates in the future as well as more promos to take advantage of. But what you definitely should take advantage of right now is BigPay giving you RM10 for signing up (use promo code B7D3YNZPGO).
The Recording From The Last BigPay Draw
What The Last BigPay Draw Winner Said About The Process
My Big Pay Review
I thought I’d leave the original Big Pay review here to show you how things have changed since then.
I was first introduced to BigPay from a friend as a potential travel card. In that piece, I had a few different guesses as to what BigPay was about and more importantly, how we can take advantage of it both now and in the future. I still wasn’t able to write a review for BigPay Malaysia at that time as I had just submitted my application to get a BigPay Mastercard. It took longer because I was looking for a BigPay promo code to get a free RM10 .
But as soon as I got it, I started incorporating it into my life to see how I could use it in my life. And I was surprised with what I found.
What is BigPay Malaysia
BigPay Malaysia is the upgrade from what AirAsia used to call their BIG prepaid Mastercard (you can read all about it here). Long story short, BigPay is now an ewallet that has incorporated a prepaid Mastercard. What this means is that you can transfer money into your account and be able to spend that money through the Mastercard, making life easier in that you won’t have to carry as much money around.
4 BigPay Benefits
Besides the usual credit features that you can use daily as well as for travel, BigPay also provides additional key benefits you can take advantage of.
BigPay Benefit 1 – Everyday Purchases
Malaysia isn’t like the US or Canada in that credit cards are accepted everywhere (most small shops and mamaks will not take card). However, I have been able to use the BigPay prepaid Mastercard wherever cards are accepted: convenience stores, grocery stores, restaurants, Grab, and retail stores.
Big Pay Benefit 2 – Foreign Usage
The initial reason I got this card. I wanted to use BigPay when I travelled so I didn’t have to exchange as much money. I saw myself using it during my 13 hour layover in China later this year as a way to be able to buy food without being at the mercy of the exchange rate inside the airport. I also saw it as a way to pay for most things when I was out of the country. This has been the main Big Pay benefit that I have taken advantage of since I got the card!
BigPay Benefit 3 – Online Purchases
I have also been able to use BigPay to make online purchases at sites like Lazada. I haven’t had to buy anything from a different country yet, but I’m looking forward to using it on Amazon especially as Black Friday and Christmas gets closer.
Also, when I updated my Canadian crypto account with the Mastercard, it accepted it so maybe I will be able to make crypto purchases at cost and instantly (an option that doesn’t seem to be available here in Malaysia).
BigPay Benefit 4 – Send/ receive money instantly
In the past, when I would go out and eat with friends, either we would all pay our separate bills (and thus, take forever to get through the process) or one of us would pay first and everyone else will transfer them money.
The problem with transferring is that you tend to forget if you don’t do it right away.
However, with something like BigPay, where you can search by name (instead of having to enter an account number), sending money can be done within seconds.
This also gives way for you to get a bunch of points that would have otherwise been harder to do. For example, just this past week, my team and I went out to eat and my friend used her grab pay to pay for us all. We then sent her money right away so we didn’t have to remember about doing it later. And because she used Grab Pay, she was able to get a few thousand points!
And all she has to now is top up her Grab account by using BigPay.
BigPay Benefit 5 – One-step money transfer (no code required!)
Whenever I transferred money to someone else, I always had to get a some sort of code (TAC) on my phone and enter it in before the money sends. Not so with the free, instant, easy to use transfer feature on BigPay.
7 Ways BigPay Has Made My Life Easier
Now that you have an idea of how I have been able to use BigPay, let’s look at all the ways that it has made my life a lot easier.
- Safety: With BigPay, there’s no need to carry as much cash and change. Also, I am only able to withdraw or spend as much as I put into my account.
- Save money: As someone who travels quite a bit, I’ve saved a lot from not having to pay hefty foreign exchange fees.
- Save on time: I hated going to the ATM to withdraw money. Now, I avoid having to search long and far for the nearest ATM only to have to get behind a large queue of people.
- Convenience anywhere: Wherever I am in the world, I can rest easy knowing I can use my BigPay card for purchases, in person or online.
- Easy to keep track of money: BigPay provides in-app tracking of daily expenses and also a breakdown each month of where my money goes.
- Instant money transfer to friends: No more worrying if the account number is correct, or having to enter any codes to confirm the transfer.
- Free money: As BigPay is still relatively new, my friends and I have been taking advantage of the RM10 promo reward to get some extra spending money! (Use QEPEPNKA06 to sign up and get RM10.)
If you’re looking to sign up, you can get RM10 by using our BigPay referral code QEPEPNKA06 when you sign up and activate your card! To get started, download the BigPay app either on (andriod) or (iOS) and use QEPEPNKA06. Otherwise, read on for more important info about BigPay.
BigPay’s Future (T&C)
In my initial Big Pay review, I had made a lot of guesses in terms of how BigPay would make money (because right now, they’re losing money for every customer they get). Although I do not know if they will ultimately do those things in the future, they do provide some clearer insights in their app under ‘fees and charges’. Some of them are:
- A 2.50 monthly service fee if you don’t use the card that month
- ATM withdrawal fees
Although they currently only charge RM10 as the fee for withdrawing cash in a foreign country, they do write that they will charge 2% of the total withdrawal in the future, possibly making it more expensive than your traditional bank card. Something that I’ll definitely keep an eye on and let you know in the newsletter if anything changes. - Currency Conversion Fee
They currently only pass the costs that they incur when making a foreign purchase, but in the future, they will charge 1% of the total cost. - Cross border transaction fee
Waived until further notice, but they don’t mention how much this could be in the future
Once they introduce these fees, it will most likely be enough for them to sustain themselves and make a good profit. However, it might not be the best for us. But this future doesn’t matter right now because I’m sure there will be more alternatives that we would be able to switch to. RIght now all we can do is take full advantage of what they’re offering.
Now that we’ve handled the BigPay review, let’s look into some common questions.
Common Questions About BigPay
How do you withdraw cash from BigPay?
In order to withdraw money from your BigPay account, you will need to use the card at an ATM. Once you insert it, and type in the pin, you will have the choice to withdraw. Once you click it, make sure you choose credit card (instead of saving or checking) and you will be able to withdraw the money. However, please remember that BigPay will charge RM6 if you use it at an ATM in Malaysia and RM10 at an ATM outside of Malaysia.
Why is my BigPay not being accepted as payment?
Although I do not know when or how this happens (as I am not a part of BigPay’s team), I have noticed times when my payments do not go through as well. In some cases, The first thing to try is to use various payment methods. Sometimes tapping (Mastercard’s PayPass feature) doesn’t work, but if you enter your pin it will (as a quick side note, tapping will never work on a new BigPay card until it has been used once through a pin).
If that still doesn’t work, it could be that the place you are at right now does not accept prepaid credit cards.
Or it could be that BigPay ended up having some an internal error that doesn’t allow you to make a transaction during that time.
If you are traveling and are afraid of this happening to you, I would suggest you withdraw some money using your BigPay card so that you have cash on hand to make the purchase. This is what I ended up doing during my trip to New Zealand and it did come in handy a few times.
How do you log in to your BigPay card?
At this point, I am not aware of a web interface to enter your BigPay card. The only way I am aware of being able to access it is through your BigPay app.
What discounts do I get from AirAsia when using BigPay?
Because BigPay is owned by Tony Fernandes (who is also the CEO of AirAsia), AirAsia offers a bunch of different discounts when you use BigPay to pay. The first one is that they will not charge you any processing fees when buying your tickets. Another discount is that if you decide to prebook your meals on an AirAsia flight with BigPay, they will give you a small discount.
Get RM10 By Using BigPay Referral Code QEPEPNKA06
Interested in using BigPay? Use BigPay referral code QEPEPNKA06 and get RM10 when you sign up and activate your card! To get started, download the BigPay app either on (andriod) or (iOS) and use QEPEPNKA06.