Good morning and welcome back to Planet Doug. I’m here just standing outside of my hotel in the city of Dumai, which is on the island of Sumatra in Indonesia. Dumai is a pretty large city, maybe 350,000 people. I read that online and it just occurred to me. I’ve been here about two weeks I guess. And in that two week period, I just realized that I’ve almost never taken my wallet out of my pocket. My wallet is filled with Indonesian rupiah. I changed money. I changed Malaysian ringgit into Indonesian rupiah. It’s all here in my wallet. And I put my wallet in my pocket and it’s pretty much just stayed there. I never take it out. And the reason for that is because I have a different kind of wallet. I now have an e-wallet, the Malaysian Touch ‘n Go e-wallet. It lives on my phone and I pay for everything with Touch ‘n Go and I never actually take money out of my wallet. So, in this video, I want to take another quick look at the Malaysian Touch ‘n Go e-wallet and in particular at using Touch ‘n Go outside of Malaysia in another country. And I’ve already shot some videos about using Touch ‘n Go. In fact, my very first video was in Malaysia. I did a long detailed deep dive video into the Touch ‘n Go e-wallet and how I used it in my daily life in Kuala Lumpur. So if you want to know all the technical nitty-gritty details about Touch ‘n Go, how you get the app, how you download it, how you open an account, how you put money into your Touch ‘n Go e-wallet, all of that information is in that video in detail. So you can go watch that video if you want to learn the basics about Touch ‘n Go. And then I went on a trip to Banda Aceh, which is a city on the northern tip of Sumatra, and I shot a video there about using the Malaysian Touch ‘n Go e-wallet in Indonesia. And I went into that pretty in-depth while I was in Banda Aceh. You can refer to that video if you want all of the deep dive details. But I kind of want to make another video because I think Banda Aceh was a special case. It felt like e-wallets hadn’t really penetrated the market. So I don’t think Banda Aceh, it’s a more traditional city, not quite as modern as other places in Indonesia perhaps. And I don’t think it represents the full scope of e-wallet technology in Indonesia. Dumai where I am now, larger city I think in terms of population, more modern in terms of its technology. So I just wanted to do more of a simple refresher course. Think of this video as a refresher course in the Touch ‘n Go e-wallet and using it overseas in particular here in Indonesia. And I’m hoping this video will be interesting and useful for both Malaysians and non-Malaysians like foreigners who are traveling around the world. If they happen to be going through Malaysia while you’re there, download the Touch ‘n Go e-wallet app, open an account and if you have money in that e-wallet and then you move on to another country, you move on to Thailand or to Indonesia for example, you can continue to use Touch ‘n Go outside of Malaysia. So that’s one of the key points about the Touch ‘n Go e-wallet and sort of e-wallet technology in general. It’s going international. And I think this video could be helpful for Malaysians, too, because a lot of Malaysians already have a Touch ‘n Go e-wallet. It’s just part of their daily life. And it may not have occurred to them that, hey, you know, when I go on holiday to Indonesia, to Thailand, when I go on a business trip to Indonesia or Thailand, I can continue using Touch ‘n Go there just how I use it back in Malaysia. And there are two parts to this technology by the way that are really important to me in how I use Touch ‘n Go. So there is the Touch ‘n Go e-wallet app of course that lives on your phone. And the way you use an e-wallet in general is you scan QR codes. So a local business, a hotel, a shop, a restaurant, they will have a QR code on display. You can take your Touch ‘n Go e-wallet, open up the app, scan the QR code, and then you make a payment. But it’s important to note that the money in your Touch ‘n Go e-wallet is in Malaysian ringgit. That never changes. So the balance in your e-wallet is always Malaysian ringgit. But when I scan a QR code here in Indonesia and I make a payment, the app automatically converts it to Indonesian rupiah and then submits payment to the local business. So that’s essentially how the e-wallet works. But there’s another component to the Touch ‘n Go system and that is the Touch ‘n Go Visa card. And this is very important. If you get a Touch ‘n Go e-wallet account, then it makes a lot of sense to go a step further and apply for the Touch ‘n Go Visa card. And this ties in with your Touch ‘n Go e-wallet app and the balance in your e-wallet. And I’ll be talking about that in this video. Well, they say the best way to teach is simply to show. And in terms of showing you how Touch ‘n Go works overseas, I’m going to start with my hotel. So, believe it or not, you can even pay for your hotel rooms using Touch ‘n Go. So, I’m going to go into my hotel lobby and give you a demo of how that works. And one important thing to realize is that Indonesia and other Southeast Asian countries, they have their own national QR code payment network, their own system. Here in Indonesia, they call their system QRIS. That stands for Quick Response Code Indonesian Standard. So, when you want to use the Touch ‘n Go e-wallet app, you wander around wherever you are and you look for the QRIS QR code and the QRIS logo. When you see that, you scan that code. You’re not looking for a Touch ‘n Go or a Malaysian DuitNow QR code. You can scan local Indonesian QRIS codes. And I’ll show you what one looks like here inside my hotel. So there is my hotel, the Wisma Camara, which by the way is a low budget hotel. So you can use Touch ‘n Go in low budget operations like this. You don’t have to be staying in fancy hotels. So there is the front desk of the Wisma Camara. And right there, front and center is the QR code that I’ve been talking about. So there you see it says QRIS. It has specific design elements that you can recognize from far away with the red triangle and it says Wisma Camara and there is the QR code that you scan. So here is the Touch ‘n Go e-wallet app. I’m opening it with my thumbprint and then you select scan. Up here at the top there’s a button that says scan because I have to scan their code. I hit that button. Now the scanner is operating and you just scan the QR code and there you are. Wisma Camara at the top and the currency is listed in Indonesian rupiah and then you enter the amount that you want to pay and then you hit continue or next and then the payment goes through to the hotel. That’s all there is to it. It’s as simple as that. Pro tip, you might notice that up here at the top it says Indonesia and then the currency says R and then says the amount. So this is your balance in Indonesian rupiah. But as I said, the actual money being held in your e-wallet is being held in Malaysian ringgit. So the app has not converted your money. It’s just showing you the Indonesian equivalent of your Malaysian ringgit. And up here is a drop-down menu. And you can click on that drop-down menu. And then you can choose from all of these different countries. So you can select the country that you’re in. And then the e-wallet, the Touch ‘n Go e-wallet will show a different UI, a different skin based on the country that you select. So when I said that the city of Dumai feels like a more representative city than Banda Aceh, a bit more modern, one thing I mean by that is I’ve noticed that the QRIS symbol, the ability to pay with QR codes seems more widespread and a lot of the smaller local neighborhood businesses seem to have adopted QR code payment. So, right up ahead there is a green tea stall sitting in the parking lot of an Indomaret and they also accept QR code payments. So, you don’t have to be buying big expensive things. I’ll be buying an iced tea basically. Hello. I’ll be buying an iced tea for about 8,000 rupiah and I’ll be paying for it with my Touch ‘n Go e-wallet from Malaysia which I think is pretty cool. This is what I’m talking about. This is the Indomaret and right outside is this green tea stall es teh. And you can’t get any smaller or more local than this. But you’ll notice that hidden in and amongst all of the advertisements for the drinks, you can see the QRIS code right there. And if you see a QRIS code like that, that means you can use your Touch ‘n Go e-wallet. Hello. Hi. [laughter] How are you? Well, fine. Yep. Teh O.
So, this is what I ordered here. Teh O susu 8,000 rupiah and exactly as I did at the hotel, you hit the scan button, opens up the scanner, and then scan the QRIS QR code right there. And I know that this iced tea costs 8,000 rupiah. So, you enter 8,000. Make sure you get that right. And remember, you’re entering the amount in Indonesian rupiah, but the app also shows you how much in ringgit. So, it’s 8,000 rupiah, but down here at the bottom, it tells you 1.88 ringgit. So, you hit confirm. It’s starting the payment process. And then you have to authorize the payment. And you can authorize it with your fingerprint, with facial recognition, or with a PIN code. I’ve chosen fingerprint. We’re sending your money. Get a notification here that your money has been deducted. And then you get this beautiful receipt here. You’ve paid 8,000 rupiah and it is done. And then quite often you can show it to the business owner so that they know that you- Hey, there you are. You see it down there? And sometimes the business owner will take a picture of the receipt using their smartphone. Okay, have a good one, sir. Thank you. Makasih.
And there you have it. That’s how simple it is. I bought a delicious local green iced tea using the power of Touch ‘n Go.
Oh, and this is really important, by the way, because it’s so hot here, blistering hot all the time. And yet here in Sumatra, they have so many cold drink stalls at the side of the road. So you need to stop and buy a cold drink all the time. But if you’re paying with cash, you often run into a problem with small change because they may not have change. You may not have the right change. But if you use the Touch ‘n Go e-wallet, you never have to worry, oh, do I have any money? Oh, do I have any small change? You just pay with Touch ‘n Go and yeah, that’s it. You never have to worry about money again. You don’t have to worry about changing money. You don’t have to worry about withdrawing money from an ATM. I find it really convenient. Pro tip, the app, of course, keeps track of everything you purchase through the app. So, there’s a button on the app called transactions. Click on that button and you see a list of all of your recent transactions. And you can go back and make sure that you paid the right amount for the right thing. I don’t know if you can see this on my screen. It’s pretty bright out here, but way up at the top of the app, there’s a word transactions. You just click on that button, and it will give you an itemized list by date and time, showing you everywhere that you’ve paid for something using the Touch ‘n Go e-wallet app. It shows your entire history and you can send this to yourself by email as well. And if you spend time in Indonesia in general, Sumatra in particular, because I have a lot of experience here in Sumatra, you realize that cafe culture is huge. Coffee shops everywhere that double as workstations. People come to coffee shops to meet their friends, good food, good drinks, and they set up laptops, smartphones, tablets, and they work all day out of these coffee shops. And you can use your Touch ‘n Go e-wallet at all of these coffee shops. At least so far, I’ve been able to. And I didn’t come to a special coffee shop that I know accepts QR code payment. This just happens to be the fancy coffee shop in my neighborhood. I just walked down the street from my hotel and there is Monochrome Cafe and Roastery.
There’s the name of the place. I’ve been here before and they make a pretty good ice cafe latte, but I might go for a hot one today just to do something different. So, yeah. Monochrome Cafe and Roastery. Let’s get a cup of coffee and pay for it using Touch ‘n Go.
So as I said the trick is to look for this symbol. So there is the QRIS QR code and if you see that on display you know you can use Touch ‘n Go here and it has the name up at the top Monochrome Cafe, cafe latte, hot. So as always open your Touch ‘n Go e-wallet and then up here says scan. Wait for the scanner to load. Scan the QRIS code. And a cafe latte is 19,000. So enter 19,000. And that works out to 4.12 ringgit. Confirm. And you can cancel within five seconds if you need to. Again, you have to confirm with your fingerprint and we’re sending your money. Then you wait for the final confirmation screen. Gives you all the details and you show it to them and they know that you’ve paid.
There you have it. Now I can enjoy my cafe latte deep in the heart of cafe culture [music] in Sumatra and all paid for with the power of Touch ‘n Go. [music]
Pro tip, there are actually two basic ways that you can use Touch ‘n Go with a QR code. The first way, the most common way, is what I’ve been showing you. You turn on the scanner and you scan their QR code. But there is another way where they scan your code. And to do that, right beside the scan button, there’s another button labeled pay. So, if they have a scanner and they need to scan the QR code in your e-wallet, you hit the pay button and it displays a QR code on your phone and they scan this code. You don’t have to worry about this in Indonesia, as far as I know, because I’ve never come across a business here that needs to scan my code. The only businesses that actually do it that way that I know about are Indomaret and Alfamart, like the big convenience store chains. And for whatever reason, their systems don’t work with Touch ‘n Go. So, they have to scan your code, but it doesn’t work with Touch ‘n Go. So to use a QR code payment at Indomaret or Alfamart, then you have to have an Indonesian local e-wallet like GoPay. I’m back out on the street again. Just left from the coffee shop walking back to my hotel and I have a habit now of like scanning my environment, always looking for the QRIS code in a shop window or on the counter or somewhere around. And in a very short amount of time, I’ve seen the QRIS code on display at a pharmacy, a smartphone shop, a data shop where you buy SIM cards and data for your phone, and then even right here there’s a local laundromat where you can pay to have your clothes cleaned and they have a QR code on display on the front counter. So, it’s widespread here in Dumai. And so far, my use of the Touch ‘n Go e-wallet, it hasn’t failed once. Anytime I’ve seen a QR code for the Indonesian QRIS system, scanned it, it worked every time. So, I haven’t had any issues at all. And sticking with that theme of local places, right beside the Indomaret and the little tea place where I got my cup of tea, here is- you can’t get any more typical than this. Any more local than this, a little restaurant right here, Sate Padang Mi Aceh. And I’ll bet I can pay with a QR code here. Let’s just go in and take a look around.
Yeah. So, the like the cafe where I was earlier, that’s sort of where the young people hang out. And this is where a slightly older generation would hang out. More of a working class. So, you just come back here to the payment area. And yeah, right there they have the QRIS code on display. So that tells you you can order here food, drinks, whatever you want. And then you can pay with Touch ‘n Go. So I put in my order. I just ordered a classic nasi goreng fried rice with egg. And I ordered something called kopi tarik, hot coffee, cold hot coffee. So it should be coffee and kind of bubbly like teh tarik. So after I have my meal, then I’ll show you again me paying for it with the power of Touch ‘n Go. But in the meantime, I can talk about another class of using Touch ‘n Go. Because when you’re using an e-wallet, any e-wallet in general, technically all you’re doing is scanning a QR code, right? And the QR code, it doesn’t have to be on a printed card. It can be on a website or on your smartphone. Basically, you can use Touch ‘n Go online just as easily as you can using Touch ‘n Go out in the real world. So, a very useful example is something I need to do right now actually is buy data. So, I’m using a Telkomsel SIM card, a local SIM card here from Indonesia, and I’ve run out of data. So, I need to buy a data package, and I can do that, of course, on my smartphone, and I can pay for it using Touch ‘n Go. My kopi panas has arrived, but it comes in a cup without a handle. And I’m not very tough, so I find I can’t hold on to the glass. It’s too hot and burns my fingers. So, I wrap a napkin around it.
Yeah, that’s good. Yeah. In an odd twist, this coffee for me because it’s hotter and has more volume, it’s more satisfying than the cafe latte at the fancy cafe. So, yeah, it’s a good bargain coming here.
So, buying data, of course, you have to open your MyTelkomsel app. Choose your data package. Down here says buy package. And I know which one I want. It’s probably going to suggest it to me because I bought it in the past. Right here, 40 GB for 40,000 rupiah. So, all you do is click on that. And now I want to buy it. It’s going to cost 40,000 rupiah. Click on buy. And then you can choose your payment method. And here I can pay from my Telkomsel balance or I can pay by QRIS. So you see how it says QRIS right there. So it won’t say Touch ‘n Go. It gives you the Indonesian QR code system. QRIS. So, you select that. Now, I’m telling the system I want to pay using an e-wallet. Click on pay. And now it will show me a QR code right there. And I have 30 minutes to scan this code and submit payment. In my case, I’m using two phones to do this because my Telkomsel SIM card is in this phone, but my Touch ‘n Go e-wallet is on this phone. So, I open Touch ‘n Go on this phone. Just like before, click on the scan button, but instead of scanning a QR code on a sign, now I’m just scanning a QR code on my smartphone screen. Right, there you go. Nothing to it. So now it’s telling me it’s 9.39 ringgit and I have to confirm payment. Pay again. I have to authorize it with my fingerprint. And now the money is being sent from Touch ‘n Go to the Indonesian Telecom mobile internet provider. Payment goes through and I will have 40 GB of data. And that’s how easy it is to do. There’s really nothing to it. And there is the proof. I now have 46.2 gigabytes of data. Pro tip. A lot of people might be traveling with only one phone. So then you’re wondering, how in the world can I scan a QR code on my phone with my phone? But they thought of that. So inside the Touch ‘n Go app, you can scan a screenshot. So what you would do if you only have one phone is you navigate on the app where you want to make your purchase and then you get the QR code on the screen and then you save it as a screenshot. Right? And now the QR code is saved as a photograph on your phone. And then you go to Touch ‘n Go. You hit scan. But then here on the scan page, you see a button called gallery. So you click on the gallery button and that will open up your photo gallery. And inside your photo gallery, you will have the screenshot of the QR code. You just click on it. Touch ‘n Go will scan the QR code in the photograph and then you can submit payment as normal. So that is really convenient. So if you only have one phone, you can still use Touch ‘n Go to scan a QR payment. All you need to remember to do is save it as a screenshot and then in Touch ‘n Go on the scan page you select gallery and then you’re good to go. Just to keep you in the swing of things here as I go about my Touch ‘n Go day. My nasi goreng has arrived. Very simple, very tasty, very filling, not expensive. And I ordered nasi goreng telur, which means egg. So it’s fried rice with egg. And they often serve it with these little crackers.
So a basic but tasty lunch ordered, paid for with the power of Touch ‘n Go.
Yeah, that’s not normal fried rice. That is hot and spicy. Really good. Very strong.
Lunch and coffee is done. Now it’s time to pay with the power of Touch ‘n Go. I was talking about how the coffee here is actually better and cheaper than the coffee at the fancy cafe, but I do miss the air conditioning. I don’t know if you can see it, but I am just drenched in sweat. And I haven’t done anything. All I’ve done is sit down and have some fried rice and I’m just soaked like I just ran a marathon or something. Yeah. Without air conditioning. Got to be prepared for the heat. So, time to pay. You just look for the QR code as always. And that’s it right there. The QRIS code. Scan the code and
just 27. So 27,000. Just enter that into Touch ‘n Go. Total 6.3 ringgit. Confirm. Five seconds to cancel if you made a mistake. Fingerprint scan. And now when the confirmation screen comes up, they will take a picture of it. Thank you so much. Thank you. And there you have it. Nothing could be easier. The power of Touch ‘n Go. 27,000 rupiah, 6.3 ringgit. And as I said, if you needed to, you could click on the transaction button, see all the details of that transaction. You can always go back. Here it is at the top, Kopi area. And you could even touch it and it opens up this screen with all of the information. I mentioned that the one place I know about where you can’t use Touch ‘n Go at all is Indomaret and Alfamart, basically convenience stores and the reason for that is they haven’t updated their systems but they have to scan your code and they can’t scan a Touch ‘n Go code but I can show you how that works. It’s quite interesting but I have to use the Indonesian GoPay e-wallet. So let’s go make a purchase with GoPay and you’ll see how they scan your code. You can do that in Malaysia, of course, 7-Eleven, 99 Speed Mart, all the convenience stores. They scan your code and it works fine there. It just doesn’t work here in Indonesia at Indomaret or Alfamart. 100% fresh milk. UHT full cream milk.
So this is GoPay and it looks a little bit different from Touch ‘n Go but the idea is basically the same. You hit the QRIS button and then here if you want they have to scan your code. So there’s a button here called show QRIS Indomaret. Click on that, fingerprint. That shows the QR code and they scan it. And the payment should go through automatically. Kaching.
So there you have it. Works just as well with GoPay. And that’s how it works. If they have to scan your code, you call it up on your phone on your e-wallet app and they scan it with their scanner.
I mentioned at the beginning of this video that I use a number of Touch ‘n Go products and the key to my overseas experience with Touch ‘n Go is of course the Touch ‘n Go e-wallet which is the app which is on my phone. I add money, I top up my Touch ‘n Go e-wallet on my phone. So that’s the base of the Touch ‘n Go system. But I also mentioned that they have a Touch ‘n Go Visa card and I promised I was going to talk about this a little bit and that’s what I’m going to do right now. So basically how this works is it is a Visa card but it is linked to your Touch ‘n Go e-wallet balance. So essentially you can use this card and your Visa number anywhere in the world that Visa is accepted. So if you go into a store and they accept Visa, take out this card, use it to make your purchase and the payment comes directly out of your Touch ‘n Go e-wallet balance, if you see what I mean. It’s really amazing. It’s kind of cool. So, if you’re shopping online as well and you want to make a purchase of any kind and they accept a Visa card, you put in your Touch ‘n Go Visa card number. Payment goes through. This card comes with a classic Visa card number, expiry date, and a three-digit code that you need to authorize payments online. It’s all right there. And I use this all the time. So, I’m going to use it right now just as a demonstration, though it’s not something I can really show you because what I do here in Sumatra is I use the Gojek super app. And in the Gojek super app, they have GoCar, GoRide, GoFood. You can order all of these things. It’s like I can order a car to come pick me up and take me somewhere, which is what I’m about to do. I can order a GoRide motorcycle to come pick me up, which is cheaper. I can order food delivery through GoFood. I can send packages with GoSend. And I put in my Touch ‘n Go Visa card as my default payment for everything on Gojek. So, what I’m going to do right now is get out my phone, open up the Gojek super app, launch GoCar, and I’m going to order a car to take me from my hotel. I’m here outside Wisma Camara. Take me from my hotel to a coffee shop and a store. I’m going to do a bit of shopping. Go to another cafe, things like that. And the payment for the GoCar will go automatically from my Touch ‘n Go e-wallet. And again, I mean, it’s not visually dramatic. You’re not going to see something amazing happen. Just as I book the car, just imagine the Touch ‘n Go Visa card working in the background, processing the payment, [music] and it is processing the payment from my Touch ‘n Go e-wallet app to the GoCar driver. Yeah, it’s very convenient. And you can also use this card in stores if they have like PayWave like the Visa PayWave basically tap and go. So if they have the terminal, the technology to do tap and go, the advantage there is that you don’t even have to use your smartphone anymore. Normally you scan a QR code and process the payment, but you can bypass your smartphone entirely by just using tap and go with your Touch ‘n Go Visa card. If they have a terminal, you want to make payment, beep, payment is automatic, processed by your Visa card coming out of your Touch ‘n Go e-wallet. And I do that in Malaysia all the time at 7-Eleven. Everywhere I go, anywhere I can use tap and go, that’s what I do now. Here in Indonesia, I’m not as familiar with which businesses have it and which don’t. But anyway, enough babbling about that. Let’s summon a GoCar and pay for it using Touch ‘n Go Visa card. You probably can’t see very much of my screen, but this is the Gojek super app. And there is GoCar. I’m going to order a car rather than a motorcycle. And I think I have the addresses of where I want to go already loaded in. So, I want to go to the Luna Coffee and Space and to the Hypermart. So, which one will I go to first? Yeah, let’s go to Hypermart first. So I’ve entered my destination and my origin is Wisma Camara, my hotel. And it’s going to cost 25,000 rupiah for a basic ride. And at this point, I don’t have to do anything. Let’s back up a little bit just so I can show you something where you set up payment. So this is the main page on Gojek and underneath my profile there are payment methods. So what you do is click on payment methods and then you enter your Touch ‘n Go Visa card and you select that as your default payment if that’s what you want to do. So that’s what I’ve already done. So Touch ‘n Go Visa is my default payment method for Gojek. And now just I just wanted to show you that. So let’s go to Hypermart and my Origin Camara Hotel. Find a driver. They’re looking for a car for me. And we just have to wait until they find an available car and driver. And I don’t know if I made it very clear. I think I did. But the key thing is here, I don’t have to do anything about payment. The payment is being handled automatically by Touch ‘n Go. And the payment will be delivered directly to the driver from my Touch ‘n Go e-wallet. So, now we just wait for a driver. And here we are. I got my driver and the driver is going to be here in 10 minutes. Perfect. The power of Touch ‘n Go. My driver is right around the corner. Should be pulling into the parking lot here in about one minute. I would think two minutes at the most. You never know with the traffic here. He could be sitting at a red light or intersection for a long time. But I’m expecting a Toyota Calya. That’s one interesting thing about being in places like Sumatra. Even the big, you know, well-known car makers. I’m very familiar with Toyota. But here all the names of the different Toyotas I’ve never heard before. So there’s the Toyota, the Hyundai Stargazer, the Toyota Calya. I’ve never heard of any of these names before. But yeah, cars are really nice from Gojek, from Grab. Just wait till my driver gets here.
Somebody’s slowing down and turning in. Yep, I think that’s my guy. Oh, what’s going on here?
Hello.
Hypermart. Yeah. Hypermart. Hypermart. Thank you.
Everything good?
There goes my Gojek car. Very pleasant ride to get here. And I’m right out front of Hypermart. And to be honest, I don’t have any pressing reason to come here. I don’t actually have to go shopping for anything. But I’m demoing how I use Touch ‘n Go in my daily life. And so I’m going to go in here and see if there is something I need. Maybe I’ll just get a cold drink and then I’ll use Touch ‘n Go to pay for my purchase. In this place being more modern, new, it may have tap to go where I can just use my Touch ‘n Go Visa card, tap a terminal, and payment is automatic. I’m going to try that first. But if they say no, we can’t do that, then I’ll just pay with Touch ‘n Go. Though here, they do it differently than other places. And that’s why I wanted to come here. They will have a terminal, a handheld terminal at the cash register, and then they produce a one-time QR code on that terminal, and you scan it, and then the amount is automatically inserted into Touch ‘n Go for payment. So, everywhere else you may have noticed, I scan a static code on a sign and then I enter the amount. This place and many others do it differently with a handheld terminal. So, maybe we’ll see how that works.
[music]
I found some household items that I could use. I’m like a walking kitchen drawer. The junk drawer in the kitchen. I always like having little doodads. Hello. Hello. How are you? I’m fine. Good. Sure. Yes. Card visa. Yeah. Tap to pay. Okay. Yeah. Oh, good. Success. Okay. Success.
Hello. Oh, hello. There you have it. I hope you saw some of that on the video. Hope I was aiming my GoPro in the right direction. But yeah, I made a little purchase of a sponge to clean my bathroom sink [laughter] before I check out. Clean my bathroom up a little bit. I like to do that before I leave a hotel. New bar of soap. New pair of scissors. Mine are broken and worn out. The ones I use for [music] cutting up food packages and things. So yeah, I had a few things I could buy at the Hypermart. Not very exciting. But much more exciting than that was I think for the very first time I used the Touch ‘n Go Visa card for tap and go outside of Malaysia. So here, the first time they did it, they brought up a scanner. I saw that it said tap and go. and it had sort of the symbol for that, the contactless payment. They had the right symbol and the first time I touched my card there, they seemed to be confused like there was a message on the screen that oh it didn’t work. Why not? But then they did it again and it worked perfectly. So, as I was explaining, technically I paid with Touch ‘n Go e-wallet, but the payment was funneled through my Touch ‘n Go Visa card. Tap and go, which means I didn’t have to scan a QR code. I didn’t have to enter the amount. That was all taken care of automatically. So, I would call that a major success. Yeah, major success. That was very cool.
Pro tip, this Visa card from Touch ‘n Go is what they call a numberless card, which means that the Visa card number is not printed on the card itself. So, the card has my name on it, but it doesn’t have the number printed on it for security reasons. All of that information is contained in the app. So, you go to the Touch ‘n Go e-wallet app, go to the card page, look for the Visa card, and there behind a security layer, you have to give your fingerprint or something to reveal it. That’s where you see the number, the expiry date, and the three-digit code. But I didn’t have to have access to any of that information because I used tap and go. Just tap and go. But as I said, pro tip, the number is not printed on the card itself. You find the card number inside the Touch ‘n Go e-wallet app. One of the reasons I came all the way across town by Gojek, by GoCar. Well, because I wanted to go to the Hypermart so I could demonstrate using Touch ‘n Go Visa tap and go, but also because right beside the Hypermart is a really nice cafe with really fast Wi-Fi for uploading YouTube videos. So, I come here to take advantage of that. It’s called the Cafe Luna. It’s right in front of me. Really big place, really comfortable, good food, good seating. So, I wanted to come here for myself, get lunch, have something to eat, have a cup of coffee. But I also wanted to demonstrate one more aspect of using Touch ‘n Go overseas or Touch ‘n Go e-wallet anywhere really because I’ve been here before and instead of scanning a QR code on a sign, this place has a terminal. I think I talked about this a little bit before I started this trip today. They have a special handheld terminal and the QR code will be displayed on that terminal and you scan that code. So, the reason that’s important is because when you look at this business from the outside, you don’t see a QR code. Like you don’t see the QRIS logo, the QRIS symbol. So, and when you go to the counter, you probably won’t see QRIS anywhere, but that doesn’t mean you can’t use it. So, a lot of these places, they don’t have a sign that says QRIS with the special logo and a QR code, but they can still process a QR code payment from Touch ‘n Go because they do it through the terminal. So you basically have to go up to the cashier, the cash register, and say something like QR bisa. I mean, is QR code possible? QRIS, bisa, bisa, QRIS. Just remember that phrase bisa QRIS or bisa QR or you don’t have to really speak Indonesian at all. You can just say QR and they will know what you mean. And then they will show you a QR code and you scan it with Touch ‘n Go. So yeah, I just wanted to show how that works. It’s one more example of what you’ll run into using the Touch ‘n Go e-wallet.
All done. My meal here at Luna Cafe. I had a really nice cafe latte ice and a burger. They had like a burger set that made a really nice kind of a gourmet burger. And just to show you the inside of this place, give you the context of me using Touch ‘n Go in Sumatra. Here is some of the interior. Nicely air conditioned. And they have a lot of seating areas upstairs there. And then behind me over here and behind me over there, they’ve got outdoor seating as well. It’s a really big place, but I’m here to show you another way of using Touch ‘n Go to pay your bill. I have my Touch ‘n Go e-wallet open and ready to go.
So, let’s see how this works out. QR Visa.
And I think he’s going to use that handheld scanner there. Oh, no. It’s- Oh, it’s right on their tablet. That’s cool. So, there’s the QRIS code right there. Scan that. And it automatically loads the amount into Touch ‘n Go. Shows it in ringgit this time. Click on pay. Authenticate. So you don’t have to enter the amount. And now it’s gone through. As easy as that. Okay. Thank you. So there’s my- they gave me a paper receipt. And then you get the receipt on the Touch ‘n Go e-wallet as well. A last look at Luna Cafe before I head outside. Really nice place.
And they have really good Wi-Fi, which is the main reason that I come here. And there’s some of the outdoor seating. It’s like a smoking area that I mentioned.
The power of Touch ‘n Go to pay for my lunch and my ice latte at Luna Coffee and Space. And now I’ve stepped out into the furnace. Oh, the furnace of Sumatra. I wish Touch ‘n Go could bring down the temperature just a notch for us poor Canadians. We can’t handle this kind of heat. At least this Canadian can’t. Even the power of Touch ‘n Go can’t do anything about that. The last test for my Touch ‘n Go e-wallet in Indonesia video here. I’m in front of a Bank Mandiri. It’s one of the larger local banks here in Dumai, in Indonesia in general. And I have my Touch ‘n Go Visa card. And as I talked about using this card, one of its biggest superpowers is that you are able to withdraw money from your Touch ‘n Go e-wallet directly from your e-wallet through an ATM at any bank that accepts Visa. So, if the ATM has the Visa Plus Network sign on it, you should be able to withdraw money in cash directly from your e-wallet. So, that’s what I’m going to test right now. Let’s cross our fingers. Hopefully it works.
I hear a lot of beeping. Hopefully that’s a good sign. But up here you’ve got the Visa and the Visa Plus symbol. So that’s what you’d look for. And then you should be able to withdraw money. You just need your card and your PIN. Let’s give this machine a try.
English. Enter your PIN. So, I’ll do that. Okay, it just accepted it right away. And then I’m going to be withdrawing. I believe it is from- oh, I forgot now. Savings or checking or credit. Try credit.
I entered 200,000 rupiah just as a test. Correct.
Boy, I don’t like all this beeping.
It’s setting off my stress indicators.
Okay. So, there we have it. 200,000 rupiah. And obviously, it’s taking a long time for my card to come out. Get a receipt, exit, and card. So, there you have it. And I believe I got charged. It was really hard to read this screen, but I think it said I had to pay a fee for this transaction. I’ll talk about that more in a minute.
There you have it. The good news is it works. And I don’t know if you think about it, what kind of an advantage that is, especially for a traveler from Malaysia. You’re going to another country or even another foreigner like me, kind of a backpacker, and you arrive in a place like this and your bank cards don’t work from your home country, rejected, rejected, you can’t withdraw any money or you get robbed and you lose all of your money and you’ve got nothing. You can use the Touch ‘n Go e-wallet as kind of a backup, like an emergency source of cash, so that if you have friends in Malaysia, for example, they have Touch ‘n Go e-wallets, they can deposit money in your Touch ‘n Go e-wallet from their e-wallet, and it just shows up in your e-wallet instantly. There’s no waiting. You don’t have to wait until the next day. There’s no money grams, Telegrams, bank transfers. They just basically transfer from their e-wallet to your e-wallet. You’ve got your Touch ‘n Go Visa card. You can withdraw it instantly from an ATM here. So, that’s the good news. Like an emergency source of cash. The bad news is what I ran into here. It said there was a fee involved. Would you know, yes or no? Do you agree to the fee? And of course, I’m doing an experiment here. I’m not going to say no. I couldn’t make sense out of what it said on the screen. I just said yes. But it turned out the fee was about 100,000 rupiah. So I withdrew 200,000 rupiah and they charged me 100,000 rupiah as a fee. And I think that’s a combination. Like don’t quote me on this. I’m not working from official sources, but I know there is a fee from Touch ‘n Go. I think it’s 10 ringgit per withdrawal but 100,000 rupiah is about 22 ringgit. So I think I paid 10 ringgit to Touch ‘n Go and then 12 ringgit to Bank Mandiri. So I got double fees. So that’s a lot. I mean 100,000 rupiah to withdraw 200,000, that is a pretty hefty fee. So that’s something to consider. It makes me think unless you’re going to be withdrawing a lot of money, which is pretty rare for an e-wallet, or it’s an emergency, you might not want to do it. But there are two types of Visa cards, like Touch ‘n Go Visa cards. There’s the regular card, which I have, and that’s meant for use within Malaysia, right? But they also have a new version. They have a travel version of the same card. And with the travel version, I think it’s a bit more expensive to buy it, but you get one free withdrawal per month from an ATM. So, when I’m looking at 100,000 rupiah as a fee now, it makes a lot of sense to get the travel version of the card and then at least when you make a withdrawal overseas or from any ATM, you’re not dinged with such a high set of transaction fees. But anyway, there you have it. Secret power of Touch ‘n Go is their Visa card, withdrawing from an ATM. Just remember that with the regular card, there is a fee involved and depending on the local bank, it can be pretty hefty. And I think that is it. That brings me to the end of my refresher course in using Touch ‘n Go outside of Malaysia, using the Touch ‘n Go e-wallet overseas in places like Indonesia. Yeah, overall I mean it worked brilliantly scanning QRIS codes here in Dumai. I didn’t have a single problem. QRIS codes are widespread and I’ve been able to use Touch ‘n Go every single day for nearly all of my purchases in stores, in markets, in coffee shops, in restaurants. And I’m actually here at the Luna Cafe mainly because they have really fast Wi-Fi. And since I make videos for YouTube, I use their fast Wi-Fi to upload my videos. But now that I’m here, I can also use my Touch ‘n Go e-wallet to pay for my coffee while I sit in there. So yeah, I was talking about two main products in the Touch ‘n Go ecosystem. The Touch ‘n Go e-wallet, of course, which is the foundation of everything. And the Touch ‘n Go Visa card also worked very well for tap and go. The one unpleasant surprise was how high the fees were when I did the ATM withdrawal, which you just saw. And as I said, if you get the Touch ‘n Go travel Visa card, they advertise it that you get one free international ATM withdrawal per month, but I’m guessing that applies only to the Touch ‘n Go fee of 10 ringgit. So, they won’t charge you the 10 ringgit fee for Touch ‘n Go, but you’ll probably still end up paying a fee that the local bank puts on that transaction. But again, that probably changes from bank to bank. So, you’ve got the Touch ‘n Go e-wallet, the Touch ‘n Go Visa card, but there’s one other thing that I’d like to mention, at least in passing, and that is the Touch ‘n Go enhanced card. This is another product that you can get that is connected directly to your Touch ‘n Go e-wallet. But in my experience and as far as I know, this card can’t be used internationally. This card is like a transportation card that you use inside Malaysia. So, you use this card for riding on the MRT, the subway trains, riding on the rapid KL buses, KTM trains, paying for highway tolls, parking fees, anything to do with transportation. That’s when you use the Touch ‘n Go enhanced card. And it’s very useful. I use it every single day when I’m in Malaysia. But this is not a card for overseas use. For that they have the Touch ‘n Go Visa card. I just wanted to toss that out there. So I’ve covered all the bases as far as Touch ‘n Go is concerned. So that is it for my Touch ‘n Go refresher course here in Dumai, Sumatra, Indonesia shutting down. And I hope that helps you out whether you are a Malaysian or a foreign tourist backpacker. And you can see that Touch ‘n Go can be pretty useful outside of Malaysia as well as inside Malaysia. All right, that’s it. Thanks for hanging out with me and I’ll see you next time.