With the steady popularity of e-commerce sites especially this pandemic, more and more people prefer shopping online rather than risking themselves to go out. Shopee is one of those platforms that provides plethora of items ranging from clothing to home supplies to gadgets, dry food even. Now, they also have Shopee Pay (or SPay).

Due to the continuous rise of coronavirus cases, physical contact should be avoided at all times. ShopeePay is the company’s solution for an easier way of paying the items you buy from their site. It might just be your ultimate contacless payment method!

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I admit that I’m an avid Shopee buyer and user. Adding so many products in the cart and buying from their app even made me a “Platinum” member — well at least for the first six months of 2021. In all of my Shopee transactions, 100 percent were paid through ShopeePay. And with that, I present you six (6) reasons why you should ditch Cash on Delivery and switch your payment method to ShopeePay right away.

1. PhP 1 deals

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Reason number one is specially reserved for one-peso deals. Through much exploration, you’ll enjoy lots of deals (especially fast food vouchers) as low as one peso. Other deals in the roster have major slashed prices for you to enjoy. This is an exclusive feature for ShopeePay and you can’t use other means of payment for this.

2. Worry-free item checking

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The amount of users using Cash on Delivery (CoD) (not to be confused with the game Call of Duty) are still rampant over those who pay cashless. While giving and receiving parcels aren’t exempt from being risky, money is still an immediate medium for the virus to spread from one person to another.

By activating and using ShopeePay in your future purchases, not only did you prevent the spread of infection, it’s also a better way for you to release your payment without the rider waiting for you to check if the items you’ve received are in good condition. Worry-free, indeed.

3. Almost instantaneous refund process

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In instances where the item delivered to you either looks bad, broken, or faulty at worse, you can request for a replacement of the item or a refund right away. If you chose refund, Shopee will bring back your money within 15 minutes to an hour utmost. This is something you can’t have right away if you paid through other payment channels — especially if it’s CoD.

Other than that, you’ll also have the huge peace of mind just in case a seller suddenly cancels an existing order you’ve purchased. Shopee automatically processes the refund and returns the value of the item you paid back to your ShopeePay wallet.

4. More access to free shipping and cashback vouchers

Some items have shipping fees that cost more than the product itself. One of the biggest reasons why most users keep buying from Shopee (including me) are the Free Shipping Fee vouchers. These help lower the total amount of goods or items we buy inside the platform.

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Non-ShopeePay accounts still enjoy this but if you’re a ShopeePay user, you’ll get more than just the maximum PhP 55-vouchers. In my case, I was able to obtain 100 pesos less voucher in shipping.

Other than that, there are also cashback vouchers that are helpful in deducting the cost of the item/s you want to buy. Non-ShopeePay users also get this but ShopeePay users get up cashbacks with no minimum capping more often. Citing my experience, I recently ordered a PhP 10,000-worth action camera. Shopee gave me a 10% cashback voucher with no coins capping just because I’m a ShopeePay user. In return, I was able to get 1000 coins straight to my Shopee coin chest!

5. Pay bills and other services within minutes

Other than having the ability to pay cashless for your Shopee orders, you can also pay electricity, water, and internet bills as well as other services through Shopee. This is possible if you activate your ShopeePay right away.

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Not only will you avoid long queue lines in payment centers, you’ll also be at peace as this method can be done within minutes — whether you’re still in bed, sitting on the sofa, or even dropping the deuce inside the bathroom.

As mentioned earlier, the cashback vouchers are still helpful here. You can lower the amount of your bills by using the existing coins you got from your orders through those cashback vouchers. In return, Shopee will also give you a cashback voucher for paying your bills in the app; a win-win situation.

6. Secure AF

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Using ShopeePay isn’t only limited to top-up (cash-in). Using Shopee’s e-wallet service* also gives sellers the ability to securely withdraw (cash-out) the money they’ve earned from the items  that are sold through the platform. Other than that, it also offers secure and hassle-free transfers to and from Shopee users in just a matter of taps.

ShopeePay has also gotten more secure with the use of PIN or biometric authentication (via fingerprint or face recognition). If you think about it, it’s more secure than lending out money to someone if ever you’re too busy to pay your Shopee orders that need to be paid via CoD. More so, other cashless payment methods don’t offer the same amount of authentication just in case processing of online payment through online bank transfers failed halfway.

Bonus: Buy now, SPayLater

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Shopee Philippines launched this new feature called “SPayLater”. Qualified buyers have options between buy now and pay later or through installment loans. As of the moment, this is only available to certain users (like me).

While this isn’t a ShopeePay-exclusive, it will be more convenient to use Shopee’s own payment method if ever you’ve decided to buy any item through SPayLater payment method. This means fast and seamless payments on the long run without worrying about additional interest charges if you suddenly forgot to pay through other payment methods.

To know more, just visit What is SPayLater.

Is it easy to activate ShopeePay?

Yes! It’s super quick and easy. All you have to do is input your phone number and a code will be sent right away. After you enter the verification code, you just have to fill-in necessary details before ShopeePay gets activated.

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In order to be verified, you need to submit a photo of you with a government-issued ID. Verified ShopeePay accounts have the advantage of sending money that non-verified users can’t do. Sellers will mostly benefit the verified badge more as they can withdraw (cash-out) the money they’ve earned from selling to their assigned bank account/s.

For more information, you can visit Shopee’s official microsites here:
How to Activate ShopeePay | How do I verify my ShopeePay account

How can I add money to ShopeePay then?

Once you’ve activated your ShopeePay, there are numerous ways on how to add money to your account (also referred as “top-up”).

The most common cash-in method is through e-wallet services such as GCash, and Coins.ph (unfortunately, Paymaya isn’t included in the list). You can also link your debit card from any bank with a minimum top-up balance of PhP 250.

Over-the-counter bank transactions from BPI, BDO, UnionBank, Metrobank, RCBC, Landbank, PNB, Robinsons Bank, China Bank, and UCPB are all supported as well. If you specifically have a BPI bank account, you can connect it through BPI online by signing-in your account inside the Shopee app.

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For non-bank/e-wallet users, payment centers are also supported:

• 7-Eleven’s CLiQQ kiosks
• ECpay (Shopwise, Petron, All Day, Ministop)
• Bayad Center
• SM Bills
• LBC Bills Payment
• M Lhuillier
• Cebuana Lhuillier
• Palawan Pawnshop
• RD Pawnshop

You should take into consideration that there’s a minimum ShopeePay balance of PhP 50.00 before you can proceed with one of these payments. Meanwhile, cash-in via TouchPay machines (found in Alfamart, Mercury Drug, Shell, Ayala Malls) require an existing PhP 20.00 ShopeePay balance before you can use such top-up method.

If you have CoD orders but wishes to pay through ShopeePay, it’s also possible by generating or scanning a QR Payment Code. However, please do note that this feature is only applicable to orders delivered via Shopee Xpress (Standard Delivery), not orders shipped via J&T Express, Ninjavan, or GoGo Xpress.

*Disclaimer per ShopeePay Terms of Service: “The ShopeePay E-Wallet is not a deposit account and therefore, it is not covered by the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation (“PDIC”) and it does not earn interest. However, it is subject to the rules and regulations of the BSP and the Anti-Money Laundering Act (“AMLA”), as amended.”