airasia’s new e-wallet is nothing like BigPay, here’s what it offers to M’sians instead

The airasia Super App has launched a new feature, airasia pocket. It’s essentially an e-wallet enabling users to reload and make payments. 

It is a separate service from the airasia credit account, which is where reimbursements are credited, should you have any. To add, the value of your credit account is not transferable to airasia pocket.

The e-wallet was developed by Fass Payment Solutions Sdn Bhd (Fasspay), a white-label e-wallet player and an approved e-money provider by Bank Negara Malaysia. 

What does it offer?

airasia pocket is currently available to all of its Super App’s users in Malaysia. Two types of airasia pocket accounts are available: Lite and Pro. 

The Lite account is recommended for everyday use with a wallet size limit of RM500, while Pro is designed for higher-value transactions with a wallet size of up to RM4,999. 

To incentivise more sign-ups for airasia pocket, users will earn airasia points upon activation, which translates to discounts on flights, food, or airasia rides booked through the app.

Signing up on airasia pocket isn’t too different compared to other e-wallets out there. You will be asked for your phone number on the next screen, along with details about your name, email, IC/passport number, and birth date.

Having used aisrasia’s app in the past where I was consistently met with slow loading times, I was pleasantly surprised by how smooth the sign-up process for airasia pocket was.

You can top up a minimum amount of RM10 using FPX online banking. There is no option to directly link your credit or debit card directly to it for now, or even your bank account (like with GrabPay, for example).

Interestingly, if you’re trying to buy an item (delivery fee included) and it amounts to over the balance you have remaining in the wallet, there is no immediate top-up function at the checkout.

You’ll have to either change your payment option (FPX), or go back to the top-up page and reload more money in airasia pocket first.

For now, airasia pocket is only usable within the airasia ecosystem. Meaning, you can only use airasia pocket to pay for products and services exclusively on the airasia super app, website, and at certain Santan branches. 

According to airasia’s FAQ, the service is working to expand airasia pocket’s accessibility, suggesting more updates for where you can use the e-wallet in the future.

Is it really an added value to customers?

Speaking about airasia pocket’s value, the CEO of airasia’s super app shared that the fintech service was launched to close the loop for the app’s ecosystem.

airasia pocket is intended to make payments faster and more accessible when purchasing products or services within the app, facilitating a better user experience. 

However, it sparks confusion amongst airasia’s users who already have BigPay which can be connected to the app to pay for things like rides, food, flights, and more.

More so, BigPay comes with a card that’s usable anywhere that accepts credit/debit cards, and even allows transactions in different currencies, making it versatile.

According to airaisa pocket’s FAQ page, airasia pocket is only available within Malaysia and cannot be used overseas. Malaysian Ringgit is the only currency accepted in airasia pocket, though more may be announced at a later stage.  

It begs the question of the true added value airasia pocket will serve in the company’s bigger picture, especially to consumers who already use BigPay.

As it’s still early days for the e-wallet, it would be interesting to see how it fares against leading super apps like Grab and Shopee that have already captured the market.