Artikel asal: Soya Cincau
Buy Now Pay Later or more popular with the acronym BNPL is a type of financing that’s been gaining popularity in Malaysia. BNPL’s service allows people to shop with credit and pay off the debt later. There are charges imposed for this debt including late payment charges.
What makes BNPL popular is that most people are not tied to other official debts, such as personal loans, credit cards and others. They take this opportunity to take on a new debt because it is easier to be approved.
One of the more popular BNPL’s service providers in Malaysia is Shopee SPayLater.
What is SPayLater?
Shopee SPayLater provides BNPL services not only in the application, but also for payments in physical stores. This is because Shopee is one of the eWallets that supports DuitNow QR, allowing it to be used in places that accept DuitNow QR payments.
Shopee SPayLater also provides 3 months, 6 months and 12 months installments depending on the types of products. But the more interesting aspect is the pay in the next month, without additional charges.
Is SPayLater shariah-compliant?
Initially, SPayLater was a non-shariah compliant service. However, it was later updated to be shariah-compliant after being reviewed by Armanie’s Advisory, a shariah-compliance firm registered with Malaysian Securities Commission.
Among the changes that’s been made so it complies with shariah is, there is no longer monthly late charge but instead it was replaced with a one-time late payment fine of RM10. Besides that, users’ accounts will be frozen if the payment is late and the RM10 fine has not been paid. In fact, any charges that exceed the cost incurred will be donated to a charity approved by the Shariah Advisor. This is also recognized by the office of the Mufti of the Federal Territory.
SPayLater Charges
After receiving shariah-compliant status, there are no confusing charges to use SPayLater. For monthly installments, SPayLater only charges once with 1.5% processing fee a month (or 4.5% for 3 months, 9% for 6 months, 18% for 12 months). This fee will only be charged once during the first processing and won’t be recurring or multiplied.
Interestingly, Shopee offers 0% charge for 1-month SPayLater, or buy now and pay in full next month. At times, Shopee also offers SPayLater with no processing fee for 3-months installments. This depends on the types of products purchased.
The last thing that users need to know is the late payment charges. Users need to pay SPayLater installments by the end of the payment deadline, for example at the 1st of each month. If payment has not been made by the end of that day, your Shopee account will be frozen and a late payment fee of RM10 will be applied.
Only after the RM10 late fee charge and the previous monthly installments are cleared, your Shopee account will be reactivated. No need to worry about multiple accumulated charges when paying late.
Paying with SPayLater in Shopee application
With DuitNow QR support, Shopee SPayLater can be used to make payments in physical stores by scanning the DuitNow QR codes. But the main payment is in the Shopee application itself. Any purchase in the Shopee application can be paid using SPayLater.
Making SPayLater Payments in Shopee application
Making payments using SPayLater in the Shopee application is easy. First, go to the products that you want to purchase and press on Buy below. Users will be presented with the SPayLater option below. Choose how many months of installments you want and press Buy Now.
A very similar process for the payment of products collected in the Cart. Select all the products that you want to check out, then press Check Out. In Payment Options, SPayLater monthly installments will be clearly listed. Select the desired monthly installments and press Place Order.
Paying with SPayLater in physical Store
To pay with SPayLater in physical stores, the steps are similar to normal QR payment but there are two ways. First, you scan the merchant’s QR code. Second, the merchant scans your QR code. To pay, first, open the Shopee application and press the scan icon.
If you scan the merchant’s QR code, point the camera at the QR code and enter the amount you want to pay. On Payment Options, select SPayLater and the desired monthly installments to pay.
If you want the merchant to scan your QR code, choose to show your QR code. Below that, choose SPayLater in the Payment Options and monthly installments if needed. It is essentially the same as other QR payments, but it is necessary to select SPayLater.
Shopee has partnered with various business partners to offer discounts for purchases using SPayLater. Don’t forget to check the available offer before paying.
Benefits & Advantages of SPayLater
Undeniably, SPayLater helps to simplify lives. Among them, users can purchase their desired products first in the middle of the month. No need to wait for payday before purchasing as you can make the payments after receiving your salary by the end of the month. As long as you pay by the payment date to avoid the RM10 penalty.
Besides that, people can buy expensive items in monthly installments for up to 12 months. Sometimes without processing fee, but often a 1.5% monthly processing will be charged. It is not burdensome to pay a large sum at once. Ada can nak merasa pakai iphone.
Sometimes, SPayLater users can get more discounts as there coupons and vouchers given by Shopee. Especially during sales day, such as multiple dates like 5.5 and 6.6, or on payday every 25th of the month.
Weakness & Disadvantages of SPayLater
Don’t forget, debt can be a major burden if it’s not managed well. Same goes with SPayLater as it is a form of debt.
Most importantly, don’t spend beyond your means. It is true that installments make the amount smaller, but if you’re unable to pay because of other debts, it will just be another trouble.
Besides that, if you’re late by only 1 day, users will be fined RM10 including deactivation of account. You can no longer shop on Shopee until the payment for the month is cleared, along with the RM10 fine.
Experience Using SPayLater
As an avid Shopee user, SPayLater helps me to shop without waiting for payday. Sometimes, there are promotions on items that I need (that’s been in the trolley for a long time), I can then pay directly with SPayLater using the 1-month installments. I can pay them after my payday.
Besides that, if you are on a tight budget at the end of the month, you can choose a longer 3-month installments. Until now, I haven’t needed to choose more than the 3-month installments.
I once had a bad experience where I forgot to pay by the payment deadline. My account was frozen and I had to pay a fine of RM10. After that incident, I always made a calendar reminder to pay my Shopee SPayLater on the 1st of the month.
BNPL such as Shopee SPayLater is a double-edged sword. It is good if used wisely and carefully, but it can be bad if you’re not disciplined.
Most importantly, buy what you need rather than what you want. Control your desire so you can control your expenses. Can you control it? If so, make the most of Shopee SPaylater.
