most valued prepaid card - Part 2

[xiaofan]

M1 Maxx gets less support than M1 Prepaid plans.

1) Not supported by M1 shops. You can not sign up through M1 shops, only through online or authorised dealers.

M1 Prepaid users get support from M1 Shops.

But M1 Maxx does have hotline support. In fact it shares the same 1693 hotline as M1 Prepaid.

 

[xiaofan]

Starhub new Prepaid S/M/L plans (Postpaid as per IMDA classification) also get less support than the StarHub Happy Prepaid Cards which are no longer offered.

1) No hotline, only through online chat.
2) Not supported by StarHub shops. You can not sign up through StarHub shops, only authorised dealers.

Last time StarHub Happy Prepaid users get support from Starhub Shops and also StarHub Prepaid hotline.

 

[xiaofan]

SingTel Official Prepaid Lazada and Shopee Shops have the S$15 and S$8 prepaid SIM Card in case you prefer to buy from online and occasionally you can use Lazada/Shopee voucher to offset the price.

You can also buy them from authorized dealers.

BTW, I got the S$15 SIM Card and it actually got 210 days of validity even though the website says 90 days.

You can use the S$15 card as a 5G monthly plan since you can top up S$15 every 28 days to enjoy the same benefits from within SingTel hi! Prepaid App (hi! Surprise top-up offer). But I guess SingTel MVNOs' 5G plans at around S$15 per month offer more benefits, if you need regular data.

https://www.singtel.com/personal/products-services/mobile/prepaid-plans/hi-sim-cards

1. $8 SIM card

1.5GB data for 30 days
$10 credits
SIM validity 90 days

2. $15 SIM card

500GB 5G+ data for 28 days
250GB Singapore + 250GB Roaming
(Malaysia, Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Thailand)
500 Local Mins & 100 Local SMS
Up to 600 IDD Mins
Free $15 hi! wallet credits
SIM validity 90 days
*Bonus data will be credited within 3 working days

 

[viethai]

Just top up singtel prepaid, extend validity by 120 days

 

[suuhhc]

Just went to upgrade 5G+ sim card, was told need to wait 4hr - 2 days to activate & change only when current sim card no network remember last time 3G change 4G sim card only took few hrs.

 

[xiaofan]

Just went to upgrade 5G+ sim card, was told need to wait 4hr - 2 days to activate & change only when current sim card no network remember last time 3G change 4G sim card only took few hrs.

Hmm, that is strange to hear the lengthy duration of 2 days. Maybe that is a worst case scenario.

When I changed the SingTel prepaid SIM card recently at SingTel Jurong Point Roadshow, it was very fast, within one hour.

I think they are just playing safe.

 

[limbang]

Yesterday Friday night, went to Woodlands Wood Square basement #2 Singtel roadshow.
After the 5G prepaid SIM cards exchange, Singtel service officer mentioned "wait for about 2-days".
But within 48 minutes, received SMS stated
"Hi there, your new SIM card has been successfully activated and you can start using it now.

Do take note, the roadshow is strictly for prepaid card.

 

[xiaofan]

Right now prepaid cards are mainly used for the following use cases.

1) for a number parking, receiving SMS OTP or app registration

2) occasional data use case

3) used by foreign workers who may have some constraints to buy Postpaid plans

4) used by tourists

But technically you can also use the prepaid cards for regular data usage, not too bad if compared with other 5G plans (not considering special offers like eight/SIMBA one to one top-up offer and Singtel MVNOs' three months or six months 50% OFF offer).

1) Singtel Prepaid 5G at S$15 per 28 days
https://www.singtel.com/personal/products-services/mobile/prepaid-plans/hi-sim-cards

SingTel hi! S$15 SIM
hi!Surprise S$15 top-up offer (only from Singtel hi! Prepaid app)

500GB 5G+ data for 28 days
250GB Singapore + 250GB Roaming
(Malaysia, Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Thailand)
500 Local Mins & 100 Local SMS
Up to 600 IDD Mins

2) M1 Prepaid 5G at S$14 per 28 days
https://www.m1.com.sg/mobile/prepaid-plans/m-card/sim
https://www.m1.com.sg/mobile/prepaid-plans/m-card/top-up

M1 S$14 prepaid SIM card
M1 S$14 all-in-one top-up

500GB all-in-one 5G data for 28 days (Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan)
3GB roaming data (Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Thailand)
500 Local Mins & 50 Local SMS
200 IDD 033 Mins (Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand)

 

[xiaofan]

There are a lot of changes for the prepaid plans in 2024/2025.

1) Shutdown of 3G network, no more USSD code, no more cheap S$1.40 for 90 days validity extension

2) StarHub exits the Prepaid business otter than tourist SIM cards. Earlier migrations were to StarHub Star Prepaid Plans. Newer migration are to the new StarHub Prepaid plans which actually belong to postpaid plans if we follow IMDA classification.

Singtel, M1 and SIMBA still have prepaid business.

3) Singtel is pushing for free 5G+ SIM Card Upgrade through roadshows. M1 also has such 5G SIM Card free upgrade roadshows but not many compared to Singtel. Singtel still dominates the prepaid market.

4) eSIM becomes a viable options for prepaid, from SingTel, M1 and SIMBA.

5) For Singtel and M1, Data bundle and roaming benefits of the 5G top-up options become much better than the old 4G top-up options. However, postpaid SIM only plans may still be better if you need regular data usage.

 

[xiaofan]

Just activated another S$15 SingTel hi! SIM Card under my wife's name (using SingPass). I got it from SingTel Prepaid Lazada Shop at S$10 (with S$5 Lazada voucher and free shipping to my HDB mail box).

As of now, it shows 100 GB data, S$14.94 wallet balance (S$0.06 eaten, similar to my other S$15 SingTel hi! SIM card). Validity is until 27 March 2026 (three months).

Let's when the 500GB data (250 GB local plus 250 GB roaming data) will be provosioned. I am also interested if the validity date will be extended further or not.

 

[JAYSCS]

Just activated another S$15 SingTel hi! SIM Card under my wife's name (using SingPass). I got it from SingTel Prepaid Lazada Shop at S$10 (with S$5 Lazada voucher and free shipping to my HDB mail box).

As of now, it shows 100 GB data, S$14.94 wallet balance (S$0.06 eaten, similar to my other S$15 SingTel hi! SIM card). Validity is until 27 March 2026 (three months).

Let's when the 500GB data (250 GB local plus 250 GB roaming data) will be provosioned. I am also interested if the validity date will be extended further or not.

The amount eaten is due to the fact that data is required to keep the cellular active, you may like to turn on data to prevent the deduction?

 

[xiaofan]

The amount eaten is due to the fact that data is required to keep the cellular active, you may like to turn on data to prevent the deduction?

No idea about this one, upon activating the SIM Cars, it could not register to the network. So I rebooted the phone and then it could register to the network. Then I checked the SingTel Prepaid hi!App and the remaining balance was already six cents less at S$14.94.

The phone is Poco X6 Pro. WiFi is on, the main SIM1 is circles.Life 5G SIM with data ON. This SingTel prepaid card is using SIM2.

 

[xiaofan]

I also checked the other S$15 SIM, it still has S$14.94 wallet balance now even I only enable WiFi and not mobile data.

The 6 cents were only eaten during the initial setup.

Another thing, the S$15 hi!Surprise offer (in-app only) was present in the other S$15 SIM with all the other benefits.

The new S$15 SIM does not show the S$15 hi!Surprise offer in the Singtel hi! Prepaid App. I guess it will only appear in the app after the full entitlements are given.

 

[xiaofan]

The M1 Prepaid Card now shows S$14.83 wallet balance, no idea when the 17 cents were eaten. WiFi is enabled, mobile data is disabled. The bundled data already expired on 24 Dec 2024.

No a real issue though as this M1 card is just for testing purposes and I am not going to top up any time soon (180 days validity).

BTW, last time the StarHub Happy Prepaid Card would also eat money occasionally.

 

[xiaofan]

I also checked the other S$15 SIM, it still has S$14.94 wallet balance now even I only enable WiFi and not mobile data.

The 6 cents were only eaten during the initial setup.

Another thing, the S$15 hi!Surprise offer (in-app only) was present in the other S$15 SIM with all the other benefits.

The new S$15 SIM does not show the S$15 hi!Surprise offer in the Singtel hi! Prepaid App. I guess it will only appear in the app after the full entitlements are given.

Interesting that my old SingTel Prepaid Card (changed to 5G+ SIM Card recently at the SingTel roadshow) has different SingTel hi!Surprise top-up offers.

1) S$10 top-up offer, 100GB local data, 300 local minutes, 50 SMS, 1GB Malaysia roaming, 28 days.

This may not be a bad offer for those who do not need too much data.

2) S$20 Ultimate Plan offer, 250GB local data, 1000 local minutes, 500 SMS, 1000 minutes IDD calls, 10GB MBIIT roaming data, 28 days. This is actually the same as the in-app S$20 5G+ Ultimate plan, nothing special.

 

[JAYSCS]

The M1 Prepaid Card now shows S$14.83 wallet balance, no idea when the 17 cents were eaten. WiFi is enabled, mobile data is disabled. The bundled data already expired on 24 Dec 2024.

No a real issue though as this M1 card is just for testing purposes and I am not going to top up any time soon (180 days validity).

BTW, last time the StarHub Happy Prepaid Card would also eat money occasionally.

It seems that Prepaid Card balance deduction is really due to 4G VoLTE issue. There has been complaints about balance deduction especially Hi! Card since 3G shutdown. If your Hi! Card deduction is only happened at the initial stage and not ongoing then probably is fine. But if it will happen again, you may like to use it independently with data turn on and not as dual SIMs setting.

 

[xiaofan]

It seems that Prepaid Card balance deduction is really due to 4G VoLTE issue. There has been complaints about balance deduction especially Hi! Card since 3G shutdown. If your Hi! Card deduction is only happened at the initial stage and not ongoing then probably is fine. But if it will happen again, you may like to use it independently with data turn on and not as dual SIMs setting.

The data bundle is only for the first 28 days. So I am okay with occasional leak but I am not going to top up S$10 or more for the data.

 

[JAYSCS]

The data bundle is only for the first 28 days. So I am okay with occasional leak but I am not going to top up S$10 or more for the data.

Anyway, you may reach out to ST Prepaid if this problem persists in future, they will provide free GB to handle the leakeage issue.

 

[limbang]

Malaysia prepaid card do not have “money leakage” problem.
”Money leakage” only applicable to Singapore prepaid card.

 

[xiaofan]

Anyway, you may reach out to ST Prepaid if this problem persists in future, they will provide free GB to handle the leakeage issue.

I will monitor the situation and I will call Singtel Prepaid hotline when required.

Our three StarHub Happy Prepaid lines have been converted to the new StarHub Prepaid S plan. No more money leakage issues.

The three Singtel Prepaid Cards and one M1 Prepaid Card are not really that important. I kind of have a soft spot for prepaid cards because of the long term usage. My first mobile plan was StarHub postpaid plan back in early 2000 after using SunPage pager service from 1998 to 1999 . Then I used StarHub Happy Prepaid card as my main line from 2004 to 2013. My wife used StarHub Happy Prepaid card as her main line from 2000 to 2017. I also like to put one SIM card for each of the backup/spare phones.