EZ-Link Pay by Wallet: Easy S$10 for activation and first spend

A couple of years ago, EZ-Link launched its EZ-Link Wallet, which allows customers to pay via QR code at supported merchants. 

This barely registered on my radar (because if there’s one thing we needed, it’s yet another e-wallet), but here’s a slightly more interesting development: EZ-Link and Mastercard have partnered up to launch a new feature called Pay by Wallet. 

This adds virtual Mastercard functionality to your EZ-Link Wallet, allowing the funds to be spent at more than 80 million Mastercard online and in-store merchants worldwide.

Since there’s no way to earn miles for topping up an EZ-Link Wallet, however, what most of you will probably be interested in is the free S$10 on offer for a limited time. 

EZ-Link Pay by Wallet

First, let’s be clear that Pay by Wallet does not allow you to spend your EZ-Link Card balance via Mastercard. Any funds inside your EZ-Link Card cannot be moved into your EZ-Link Wallet; however, any funds inside your EZ-Link Wallet can be used to top-up an EZ-Link Card. 

Once you’ve activated the Pay by Wallet feature, you’ll receive a 16-digit virtual Mastercard. This can be used for online transactions, while Android users can add the card to their Google Pay wallet for in-store transactions via NFC (sorry Apple users, no such functionality exists for you).

Pay by Wallet can hence be utilised anywhere Mastercard is accepted, with the caveat that the maximum EZ-Link Wallet balance is S$500, so you won’t be making any big ticket transactions (not that you should, anyway, because you’d be foregoing all sorts of credit card rewards in the process).

Welcome offers

T&Cs

Get up to S$10 free

To mark 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. A further S$5 cashback will be earned when they make a minimum spend of S$10 within 30 days of signing up. 

This campaign is limited to the first S$200,000 of cashback or the first 20,000 new EZ-Link Pay by Wallet user sign-ups, whichever comes first. Don’t forget that you may need to top up additional funds to your EZ-Link Wallet to “liberate” the free money, unless you can find something that costs less than or equal to your balance (alternatively, you can transfer it to your EZ-Link Card and call it a day). 

I’ve tried signing up and received the S$5 instantly. All you need to do is create an EZ-Link Wallet if you haven’t already done so (SingPass required), then activate Pay by Wallet (SingPass required again).

As for the S$5 cashback with S$10 spend, do note that certain transactions are excluded, such as donations, education, government services, hospitals, utilities and AXS.

Ironically, MCC 4111 (SimplyGo) is excluded too (and before you say it’s impossible to spend S$10 on a bus/MRT ride, remember that where Mastercard is concerned, accumulated fares are posted to your credit card account every 5 days, or 21 transactions, or S$15, whichever comes first). 

Lucky draw

For every successful Pay by Wallet transaction of at least S$80 made by 31 July 2022, customers will receive one entry into a lucky draw with the following prizes:

• 1N staycation at Equarius Hotel or Hotel Michael with breakfast for two (3x winners)
• A pair of Universal Studios Singapore tickets (80x winners)

Prize winners will be contacted by 30 September 2022. 

EZ-Link Rewards

Did you know EZ-Link has a rewards programme? If not, don’t worry; you’re not missing out on anything. 

Every S$0.10 spent with the EZ-Link Wallet earns 1 EZ-Link Rewards point, redeemable through the EZ-Link Rewards catalogue. Here’s the thing though: I’ve glanced through the selection and it’s just as bad as Chope’s, in the sense that it’s offering you stuff that should really be free.

“Rewards” include Foodpanda and Syfe new customer promo codes, as well as various discount vouchers at random restaurants and merchants (most with minimum spend requirements). It’s a very weird hodgepodge of everything, and should absolutely not influence your decision whether to spend with Pay by Wallet. 

Conclusion

With the new Pay by Wallet feature, EZ-Link Wallet balances can now be spent at any Mastercard-accepting merchant, whether online or in-person (assuming you have an Android phone).

Truth be told, however, there’s very little here to excite any miles collector. By all means, get the free S$5 for signing up and maybe an additional S$5 for spending S$10, but beyond that, it’s not something you’ll need to revisit for a long while.