Cashless in Singapore - Part 2

Experimented going out cashless (okay, okay so I brought standby cash and a physical card as a back) for a few days.

Firstly, I topped up the EZlink card from my Singtel Dash account. I previously assumed that it was only for Singtel customers with a NFC-SIM but it works with my M1 card. Since I don't have a Singtel bill to charge the top-up to, I used my credit card instead. Oddly, there is no $10 option so I chose $5. Most times I used POSB or DBS cards. This means I need to top-up before leaving home because I can't remember the 16 digits and other details. Or else top-up a larger amount which means money stuck in there.

Second thing I did was to save the Fairprice card to Android Pay. Previously I only saved the card to Android pay as a credit card. I didn't realise I had to save the card as a loyalty card (apears as a white card) so I could also use it to tap for Linkpoints. Just turn on NFC, choose the loyalty card, tap for Linkpoints and switch to the credit card to pay and tap again. I used it last night to the cashier's amusement. I think I'm her first customer to also tap for Linkpoints.

Some things to look out for

• DBS Paylah now has a on-demand withdrawal if you link your bank account. This means I don't have to top-up, pay and then send the balance back. I try not to leave cash on my phone because it is not earning interest, even at 0.05%, LOL.
• About DBS Paylah - so there's this nondescript bookshop near the market that offers Paylah for payment, proudly displaying their QR code. However, when I paid, the owner said the phone was with his wife who wasn't there yet. He let me go because I was a regular. I wanted to go back and showed him the transaction history but DD said it was okay.
• Check if Fave Pay is accepted. You'll get rebates for the next payment.
• Singtel Dash's Fairprice rebate is capped at $2.50 which means a $50 spend. Any amount above that will not earn rebates. Incidentally, Khatib's Fairprice has removed the terminals though the promotion is valid till 31Dec.
• Cashless hawker centres - I like to eat the wanton noodles at the Hong Lim Food Centre but, alas, it doesn't subscribe to cashless payment. DS suspects such establishments don't want their income tracked.
• phone defaults - currently my default is Android Pay. If I want to use NETSpay, I have to manually switch it. Haven't found many places that I normaly go to that use this though.

I realised one thing though... now that I don't have to bring cash/cards out, I might have to bring a portable charger. *grin*

Have a blessed cashless day!