How to play Google Pay’s Hawker Pals National Day cashback minigame
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How to play Google Pay’s Hawker Pals National Day cashback minigame
Note: This article was first published on 8 August 2023.
Google Pay is back with a new seasonal minigame. Titled Hawker Pals, the National Day 2023 digital payments gamification features up to S$105 cashback and other rewards like merchant vouchers.
Google said that “hawker centres’ were the top searched food topic in Singapore for the last six months. It’s also the country with the world’s top food-searching nation. Singapore’s obsession with food has led Google to associate its local hawker culture with national significance. As such, Hawker Pals came about to celebrate Singapore’s 58th birthday.
How does Hawker Pals work?
At 8 August 2023, 8AM Singapore Time, Google Pay users can access the Hawker Pals minigame via their Google Pay app. The campaign ends in two weeks, on 20 August 2023.
You play as a hawker who has to keep four Pals well-fed. Three of these Pals are Meow Shanwang, Orh Lua & Orh nee, and Merina Baey. The last Pal is a mystery guest.
You complete different payment actions during the minigame period to feed them with local food fare. Each completed “round” of fed Pals earns one scratchcard, up to a total of four scratchcards. The cashback on these scratchcards can go up to S$105.
The different payment actions are:
- Sending at least S$10 to a friend who is on Google Pay
- Making a PayNow/FavePay transaction of at least S$3 to merchants on Google Pay
- Completing a short trivia on Singapore
Hawker Scanner
Similar to Huat Pals’ image recognition minigame is Hawker Scanner, where you use Google Pay’s in-app QR code scanner to scan items at a hawker centre or items in a Singaporean’s daily life.
Each successful scan can earn one voucher from merchant partners, like JBL, Sephora, 6ixty8ight, or Sony. The vouchers can also come from local brands such as Irvin's, Gain City, Ryde, Suntec+, or TADA.
Clarke Quay skyline Google Doodle
Also coming to the Google Seach homepage is another Google Doodle that features the iconic skyline of Clarke Quay. This is in addition to the Singapore Bishan Otter Family Google Doodle that went live on 7 August 2023.
Download Google Pay
The Google Pay app is available to both iOS and Android mobile devices. The payment instrument works with PayNow and linked credit/debit cards, via various payment methods (NFC, QR codes, peer-to-peer transfers).
