A SIM only telco – GIGA (Part 1)

In the past, there used to be only 3 players in the telco market – Singtel, Starhub and M1. They sort of formed into a monopoly where 5.2 million people on the island will choose either of the 3 companies. All things change when Circles.life came into the picture and to be honest, it was such a game changer that almost instantaneously switched to them at the earliest time possible once my contract was up. Notably, Singtel has the best coverage in Singapore and underground but they were keen on only making profits for themselves.

The comparison

After some time, all three incumbent were forced to break off from their current model into a SIM only plan. This has been really great for consumers in particular as more competition means more competitively prices plans and better customer service. Of course, the incumbent truly matched the competition and eventually I switch out to GIGA, a SIM only plan from Starhub.

Benefits

The real benefits of going with GIGA means that for a basic plan,

a. S$18 for 20GB of data, 200 mins of outgoing calls, 200 SMS, free caller ID and free incoming calls and incoming SMS.

b. For unused data, you can carry over to the next month (Capped at 2x the base data – 20 GB x 2 = 40GB

c. No contract means, flexibility and freedom to cancel the contract anytime.

d. Signup is digital only – meaning you can only sign up online. You can use the GIGA app to access your account as well as setup your payments. They accept most major credit cards.

e. There isn’t any IDD so for for overseas usage. You would need to buy either gigaRoam (Asia Pacific) or gigaRoam (Rest of the world)

f. There is a small registration fee. You also need to arrange for the SIM card to be delivered to you. However, you can use a referral code to supplement the discount. You will get a one time $20 gigabucks off the 25GB plan or a one time $42 gigabucks off the 50GB plan. Use my referral code – “LhS9Ng”. The referral credit is only valid for any plans except the basic $10 GIGA plans.

Others

The downside of using GIGA is that you can’t surf the internet while on a call. (E.g. checking for emails or stuffs while on a call. However, if you have your WiFi switched on, it works perfectly) You can still receive OTP (One time Pin) while still on the call so that’s not too much of a worry.

Generally, I like the interface, colours and customer service support on GIGA. They even have a live chat function but you need to clear your cache regularly as it seems like it is stuck on my app most of the time. It is fuss-free and simply to use. I’ll say that they are trying hard to evolve and re-invent themselves. I don’t have too much faith with Singtel and GOMO so this is my next best choice.

GIGA just launched a 40GB data, 300 SMS, 300 outgoing calls at $20 for 12 months. It is still a no contract plan but that it reverts back to $30 a month from the 13th month onward.

From time to time, they will launch limited time offers like the one above. You can visit their website to find out more: https://www.giga.com.sg/

Disclaimer

If you like what I am sharing or if it resonates with you, do use my referral codes for other services at https://atomic-temporary-178675883.wpcomstaging.com/contact/

The pictures were taken from GIGA website for this article.

A SIM only telco – GIGA

In the past, there used to be only 3 players in the telco market – Singtel, Starhub and M1. They sort of formed into a monopoly where 5.2 million people on the island will choose either of the 3 companies. All things change when Circles.life came into the picture and to be honest, it was such a game changer that almost instantaneously switched to them at the earliest time possible once my contract was up. Notably, Singtel has the best coverage in Singapore and underground but they were keen on only making profits for themselves.

After some time, all three incumbent were forced to break off from their current model into a SIM only plan. This has been really great for consumers in particular as more competition means more competitively prices plans and better customer service. Of course, the incumbent truly matched the competition and eventually I switch out to GIGA, a SIM only plan from Starhub.

The real benefits of going with GIGA means that for a basic plan,

a. S$18 for 20GB of data, 200 mins of outgoing calls, 200 SMS, free caller ID and free incoming calls and incoming SMS.

b. For unused data, you can carry over to the next month (Capped at 2x the base data – 20 GB x 2 = 40GB

c. No contract means, flexibility and freedom to cancel the contract anytime.

d. Signup is digital only – meaning you can only sign up online and use an app to access your account as well as setup your payments. They accept most major credit cards.

e. There isn’t any IDD so for for overseas usage, you would need to buy either gigaRoam (Asia Pacific) or gigaRoam (Rest of the world)

f. You would need to pay a small registration fee and arrange for the SIM card to be delivered to your preferred location. However, you can use a referral code to supplement the discount. You will get a one time $20 gigabucks off the 25GB plan or a one time $42 gigabucks off the 50GB plan if you use my code – “LhS9Ng”. The referral credit is only valid for any plans except the basic $10 GIGA plans.

The downside of using GIGA is that you can’t surf the internet while on a call (for e.g. checking for emails or stuffs while on a call however if you have your WiFi switched on, it works perfectly) but you can still receive OTP (One time Pin) while still on the call so that’s not too much of a worry.

Generally, I like the interface, colours and customer service support on GIGA. They even have a live chat function but you need to clear your cache regularly as it seems like it is stuck on my app most of the time. It is fuss-free and simply to use. I’ll say that they are trying hard to evolve and re-invent themselves. I don’t have too much faith with Singtel and GOMO so this is my next best choice.

GIGA just launched a 40GB data, 300 SMS, 300 outgoing calls at $20 for 12 months. It is still a no contract plan, just that it reverts back to $30 a month from the 13th month onward.

From time to time, they will launch limited time offers like the one above. You can visit their website to find out more: https://www.giga.com.sg/

Image from Giga website.

A low cost Brokerage option? Tiger Brokers

In the last few years, we have seen quite a number of independent brokerage firms popping out of nowhere. The idea that their platform charges an extremely low brokerage fee seems to make us think about their sustainability and how they are make money to survive the long game.

Low Cost Brokerages

Well, for consumers and folks who are talking about low costs – such competition will only benefit retail consumers and I will definitely take them into consideration. Interesting enough, the backers of Tiger Brokers are a Chinese online security brokerage firm in Beijing founded in 2014. Their investors are Interactive Brokers Inc, Jim Rogers, ZhenFund and Xiaomi Inc. Tiger Brokerage is listed on Nasdaq under ticker: TIGR.

Tiger Brokers

In Singapore, Tiger Brokers is under their subsidiary, Tiger Brokers (Singapore). The biggest sell for them is their 0.08% fee on the share value with no minimum fee for equities on SGX. They also do not charge a custodian fee.

The on boarding process is pretty simple and easy. You can also use SingPass to ease the sign up process. For funding purposes, SGD transfers takes only an hour or so during the weekdays. I transferred some funds to the platform at around 7.30 pm and funds were approved at around 8.15 pm. At the same time, I also tried out their withdrawal process. It takes about 24 hours to receive the funds in the bank account. It could be due to a first time withdrawal but I shall try it out to find out more. One important point is to deposit and withdraw funds in the same name as the one you use to register for the platform otherwise there will definitely be delays.

An impressive in-depth study on Tiger Broker can be found on Seedly article here: https://blog.seedly.sg/tiger-brokers-review/ and one of the key points about custodian was discussed in the article.

Mentioned on one of their paragraph: “Unlike the other brokerages operating in Singapore, Tiger Brokers does not have a custodian license and has to rely on a third-party broker or bank.” It means that they use a third party custodian bank and specifically two other banks (ANZ and CIMB). It also means that you do not need to worry about Tiger Broker going default since banks are holding your securities and funds.

I think that they are a good platform to invest some funds in but definitely not your core or bulk of your funds.

TIGER Promotions

There are some promotions for new signups which doesn’t seem too shabby:

  • Free level 2 data on US or HK stocks for 30 days after registration
  • Commission-free for 1 order of US&HK stocks in 30 days after opening an account
  • Get up to $100 worth of stock vouchers when you deposit funds or transfer shares
  1. Fund account with SGD 2,000-5,000 to get Stock Voucher worth SGD 30
  2. Fund account with SGD 5,000-10,000 to get Stock Voucher worth SGD 50
  3. Fund account with SGD 10,000-30,000 to get Stock Voucher worth SGD 70
  4. Fund account with more than SGD 30,000 to get Stock Voucher worth SGD 100

Referrals

  • Get an additional $100 worth of stock vouchers when you refer friends
  1. Invite a total of 5 people to own SGD 10
  2. Invite a total of 9 people to own SGD 20
  3. Invite a total of 12 people to own SGD 30
  4. Invite a total of 15 people to own SGD 40
  5. Invite a total of 25 people to own SGD 100

If you find this as something interesting, please do use my referral code link here: https://www.tigersecurities.com/accounts?invite=S5LTM6

Here you can also find a funding guide from Tiger Brokers: https://youtu.be/AmgLNhDvA68

Disclaimer

If you like what I am sharing or if it resonates with you, do use my referral codes for other services at https://atomic-temporary-178675883.wpcomstaging.com/contact/

The pictures were taken from Tiger Brokerage website for this article.