In my previous post about Ez-link Trival here Ez-link deal , they have upped one more level by allowing Mastercard in their Ez-link payment option.
The Deal
You can now earn an easy S$10 just by logging into their app, there will be an option to use Mastercard to pay for items via Google Pay.
EZ-Link and Mastercard have partnered to launch a new feature called Pay by Wallet.
This would add virtual Mastercard functionality to your EZ-Link Wallet (Google Pay). You can then spend these at more than 80 million Mastercard online and in-store merchants worldwide. Unfortunately, it is only available for Android users for now.
Free S$10
As like any new players in the market, the launch of Pay by Wallet, EZ-Link is offering an instant S$5 credit to users who activate Pay by Wallet on the EZ-Link App.
Do note that you will get an additional S$5 cashback will be credited to you when you make a minimum spend of S$10 within 30 days of signing up. The promotion is not unlimited, please take note.
Should you be interested to sign up for this, do download the Ez Link App and key in my Referral code: 3197B5C
Some Pointers to note
a. This campaign is limited to the first S$100,000 of cashback or the first 10,000 new EZ-Link Pay by Wallet user sign-ups, whichever comes first
b. Next, note that certain transactions are not valid here at T&Cs such as donations, education, government services, hospitals, utilities and AXS. (Standard Stuff)
c. Additional perks:
For every successful Pay by Wallet transaction of at least S$80 made by 31 July 2022, earns you one entry into a lucky draw with the following prizes. (All prize winners will be contacted latest by 30 September 2022):
1N staycation at Equarius Hotel or Hotel Michael with breakfast for two (3x winners)
A pair of Universal Studios Singapore tickets (80x winners)
Conclusion
Again, nothing much to shout about. To make more value for your buck, something to play around with if you have some time.
Disclaimer
This is not a sponsored post. This is purely my own opinion after using their service and/or products. If you like what you are seeing, do remember to check out my referral links.
Now, if what I am sharing does resonates with you, do use my referral codes here at Referral and Recommendations
The pictures were taken from EZ-link website for this article.
With the internet, news and services get rolled out pretty at a light speed. Recently, the blog community and several other channels (likely paid/sponsored) has seen a new service in town. It isn’t your usual savings or investment account but instead a Goldback account. At at current, it looks really simple at this point in time. I’m not sure what they have in store for future development. (https://onelink.to/hugosave)
Hugo Save or Wealthcare
Savings are made made simpler through the Hugo Save App. How this works is through Roundups – every transaction on the Hugo Platinum Visa Debit Card is rounded up to the nearest dollar. This weekly Roundup savings are then automatically invested into real physical gold via the Hugo Gold Vault.
There are also other options such as:
1. Micro Investments – Grab Invest (Nothing Fancy but also nothing exciting). These have no lock-ins.
2. Micro Insurance – SNACK by Income. They offer small insurance benefits that build up over time. They can be a good source of insurance coverage for freelancers or folks who just came to employment.
3. With Hugo, they focus on savings and what more can they do to provide it as a platform to save eventually rounded into Gold.
a. You sign up with your details here at Hugo: https://www.hugosave.com/, click on the download button.
b. Fill and submit your details. I believe they have a pretty quick turnaround. Meanwhile, you will need a photo of your NRIC and selfie as a check.
c. Within the next business day, you should have your account setup and proceed into the app to get your physical card. This portion takes about 2 weeks minimally to obtain the physical card and start spending.
Each account is provided with an account number and a DBS Swift Code which is safeguarded within DBS Bank. You can load money via FAST to your account at Hugo
c. You can then explore to create moneypots (Savings) and if you spend on your card, there will be a round up function which will complete your micro savings into what they call Goldback.
Features
There are several features on the app:
You can add money pots to create saving goals. (for example – different kid, PS5, new gadget) Take note though that there will not be any interest earned.
Separately, there is a Gold Vault which you can:
regularly invest in by setting a monthly date and amount to put into Gold
Ad-hoc invest into the Gold account.
The Gold account in the Gold Vault is physical gold allocated against your investments. They are stored in an accredited London Bullion Market Association vault and insured by Lloyds of London.
Some Partnership links
It seems like HugoSave have a couple of partnership links that users can take advantage of:
a. From Circles (Telco): https://bit.ly/HugoXCirclesLife (minimum S$40 payment for 5 bills, get $S20 in staggered Goldback payment) You will need to be a Circles customers I suppose and looks like they have a promotion code to sign up too.
b. From Ohm Energy (Electricity Retailer): https://bit.ly/HugoXOhm (minimum S$40 payment for 5 bills, get $S30 in staggered Goldback payment) You will need to be an Ohm customer I suppose and looks like they have a promotion code to sign up too.
My Personal Thoughts
Pros
Good things first – When i first checked this out, the first thing that came to mind was a structured way to save money. This works for me in terms of setting saving goals for myself and pocket money for my kids.
The idea of roundups came in as a fresh perspective. Putting it into Gold was a little off-putting initially but i figured out that it is a safe haven so no harm to do so.
Next, I eventually thought about freelancers and people who say that they can’t really save every month. This put in to practice what you can really do now. Putting money pots and fix your savings without spending it.
With the increase and new generation into freelance work, this will help people in terms of educating savings. You have a fixed
Cons
I’m just thinking as a devil’s advocate. Should there be more than Gold as an option in this roundup function?
Next up, the physical card took rather long to arrive before I can use it. Perhaps, there can be consideration for spending on the numberless card before it arrives.
Are there any signup perks for customers? Since the objective is driven by savings instead of an interest bearing account. Considering that I can do the same via a Bank app, what is the edge other than purely savings.
Afterall, I’m pretty seasoned in this new app, new services stuff. They spend money to acquire customers, then roll a tight budget to stay sustainable. Nothing wrong in doing so, that’s just entrepreneurship and staying relevant.
Disclaimer
This is not a sponsored post. This is purely my own opinion after using their service and/or products. If you like what you are seeing, do remember to check they out and do your diligence. There is no one size fits all investment strategy.
Now, if what I am sharing does resonates with you, do use my referral codes here at Referral and Recommendations
This is really a nice initiative from MAS to combine all the bank data but I do have some gripe over it and there are nuances which I find myself complaining all over it. Before I do, I shall not and since this is something interesting to see, I would suggest everyone to try it.
Due to the technology involved in this, I wouldn’t suggest those who are not too savvy to attempt. You will get more frustrated from this. Technology do help us but also complicate our lives so much more. It’s just removing a a middle man to reduce pricing but then re-introducing the middle man as multiple stores and having different shop fronts and products which differs a little from one another.
What is Findex?
If you give your consent to the platform, you can share your personal financial data across Citibank, POSB/DBS, HSBC, Maybank, OCBC Bank, Standard Chartered Bank and UOB, plus government agencies like CPF, HDB and IRAS
This system is jointly developed by GovTech and I suppose SingPass is the security gateway to this capability. It is also stated that personal data is not stored.
I find that this is really in the infant stage of the launch and the applications can be developed into something more. That’s more GovTech and the merchants to find out.
What is the buzz about?
Consolidated bank accounts into one app. Let’s put it this way.
If you have a Standard Chartered bank account, choose the sgfindex option, login to Singpass and link your other bank accounts.
And if you have a OCBC bank account, choose the sgfindex option, login to Singpass and link your other bank accounts.
If you have a DBS bank account, choose the sgfindex option, login to Singpass and link your other bank accounts.
Okay, I think you get it. It is manual and you will need to endure with the lag, error 404, missed linked, etc….
I mean yeah, you get to see all your accounts in one app. All your credit cards, loans, selected government related accounts will be on it and that’s that.
Meanwhile, if you manage to come to this part of the reading – Thank you. If you are keen on getting $5 from Standard Chartered Bank. Do run through their exercise and also read their T&Cs at https://www.sc.com/sg/bank-with-us/sgfindex/
Don’t expect too much though.
Disclaimer
This is purely my own opinion after using their service and/or products. If you like what you are seeing, do remember to check they out and do your diligence. There is no one size fits all investment strategy.
