Yes, GO+ is halal by the test Malaysians normally apply. Money you cash in to GO+ inside the Touch 'n Go eWallet buys units in Principal e-Cash Fund (Class A), an Islamic money market fund managed by Principal Asset Management Berhad with Amanie Advisors Sdn Bhd as its Shariah adviser. The fund became Shariah-compliant on 18 August 2021 and holds only cash, Islamic deposits, Islamic money market instruments and sukuk. It is not a bank deposit and has no PIDM cover. On 13 September 2026 Principal's fund page showed an annualised yield of 3.15% and a one-year return of 3.07%. The balance cap is RM20,000. Before parking a large sum, compare it with the Islamic savings accounts we track.
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What GO+ is, and what it is not
GO+ is an investment feature inside the Touch 'n Go eWallet, licensed through the Securities Commission Malaysia rather than Bank Negara. TNG's own GO+ page is unusually blunt about this: it says GO+ is an investment product, that returns may fluctuate and are not guaranteed, that it is not a savings or deposit account, and that it does not fall under PIDM protection. Your GO+ balance sits separately from your eWallet balance, but you can pay, transfer and reload from it directly, and a Quick Cash In setting sweeps eWallet money into GO+ automatically.
The product launched on 29 March 2021 for Malaysian citizens aged 18 and above, with a minimum cash-in of RM10 and no lock-in period. At launch the underlying fund was a conventional money market fund. On 18 August 2021 Principal and TNG announced that Principal e-Cash Fund had become Shariah-compliant, which Principal described as the first Shariah-compliant eWallet product in Malaysia. Anyone who held GO+ before that date and worried about the earlier structure can treat August 2021 as the clean break.
What Principal e-Cash Fund actually holds
The prospectus classifies the fund as Money Market (Islamic) with an income objective. All of its net asset value is invested in a combination of cash at bank, placements of Islamic deposits, Islamic money market instruments and sukuk denominated in ringgit. For money market instruments the fund restricts itself to those approved by the Shariah Advisory Council of Bank Negara Malaysia, using BNM's Bond Info Hub and FAST systems as the reference lists, and for sukuk it uses instruments approved by the SAC of the Securities Commission or cleared by its own Shariah adviser.
In practice that means short-dated placements with Malaysian banks. TNG's November 2024 announcement described the fund as investing primarily in short-term bank deposits with top banks in the country. Principal's fund page on 13 September 2026 showed a fund size of RM1,686.62 million as at 31 August 2026, with the net asset value held at RM1.0000 per unit. Class A, the class GO+ users hold, can only be transacted through the eWallet app, so you cannot buy the same class directly from Principal.
Who certifies it as Shariah-compliant
The prospectus names Amanie Advisors Sdn Bhd as the fund's Shariah adviser, a firm registered with the Securities Commission to advise Islamic funds. Amanie reviews the portfolio monthly, meets the manager quarterly, and issues an annual Shariah certificate at the financial year end. If any income is found to have come from a non-compliant source, the prospectus says the fund keeps only the investment cost and channels the tainted portion to charitable bodies on the adviser's instruction. That is the standard purification mechanism used across Malaysian Islamic funds.
For a reader who wants to check this independently, the ten-minute routine in our guide to verifying a Shariah fund applies: open the prospectus, find the Shariah adviser section, confirm the fund category reads Islamic, and read the annual report's Shariah certificate. GO+ passes each step. The is it halal hub covers the broader fiqh of money market funds for anyone who wants the reasoning rather than the paperwork.
What GO+ has actually paid
TNG's marketing page says GO+ earns daily returns of up to 3.2% per annum. Principal's fund page is more precise and is updated daily. The table below records exactly what that page displayed on 13 September 2026.
| Measure | Figure | Date shown |
|---|---|---|
| Annualised yield (daily distribution) | 3.15% | 13 September 2026 |
| Annualised yield (daily distribution) | 3.11% | 2 and 3 October 2026 |
| Year-to-date return | 2.02% | As at 31 August 2026 |
| One-year return | 3.07% | As at 31 August 2026 |
| Three-year return (cumulative) | 10.37% | As at 31 August 2026 |
| Five-year return (cumulative) | 15.79% | As at 31 August 2026 |
| Since inception, 15 March 2021 (cumulative) | 16.56% | As at 31 August 2026 |
| TNG headline rate | Up to 3.2% p.a. | GO+ page, 13 September 2026 |
Two details matter for how you read those numbers. First, the fund distributes income daily and reinvests it as new units at RM1.0000, which is why your GO+ balance ticks up each morning rather than the unit price rising. Second, Principal's annualised yield is the latest daily distribution multiplied by the distribution frequency, so it is a snapshot of today's rate, not a promise about next month. TNG's own guidance for users says cash-ins made before 4pm start earning the next day, while anything after 4pm loses a day.
Fees, minimums and the RM20,000 cap
Principal's fund page sets out the full cost and access terms for Class A, and none of them are hidden in the app.
- No application fee on cash-in, so every ringgit you move in buys units at RM1.0000.
- Management fee of up to 0.45% per annum of the class's net asset value, deducted inside the fund before the yield you see.
- Trustee fee of up to 0.03% per annum of the fund's net asset value, also deducted inside the fund.
- Minimum initial and additional investment of RM10, with no minimum balance to earn the daily distribution.
- Minimum withdrawal of RM10 to your bank or eWallet, or RM0.01 under the automatic withdrawal that pays for eWallet spending.
- A six-business-day cooling-off right for first-time investors, which the prospectus says must be exercised directly with Principal, not through the app, and which lapses once you have used any of the balance.
The cap on how much you can hold in GO+ was RM9,500 from launch. On 14 November 2024 TNG Digital raised it to RM20,000 for new and existing users. That ceiling is the single biggest practical limit: a household emergency fund of three months' expenses will often exceed it, so GO+ works as the first layer of cash rather than the whole of it.
GO+ versus Islamic savings accounts and other Shariah cash funds
The honest comparison is not GO+ against a basic savings account, which is the one TNG prints. It is GO+ against the best PIDM-protected Islamic savings rates and against the other Shariah money market routes. Our Islamic savings account comparison found OCBC Al-Amin paying 3.00% effective with PIDM cover for ordinary salary behaviour, Public Islamic's ForU2Save paying 2.10% without conditions, and KAF Digital Bank paying a discretionary 5.00% on the first RM2,000 only. GO+ sits inside that range on yield while giving up the deposit guarantee.
| Route | Published rate on fetch date | Shariah status | PIDM | Cap or minimum |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GO+ (Principal e-Cash Fund Class A) | 3.15% annualised yield, 13 September 2026 | Islamic fund, Amanie Advisors | No | RM10 minimum, RM20,000 cap |
| OCBC Al-Amin savings (per our review) | 3.00% effective with salary conditions | Islamic bank account | Yes, to RM250,000 | Conditions apply |
| Public Islamic ForU2Save (per our review) | 2.10% unconditional | Islamic bank account | Yes, to RM250,000 | No conditions |
| KAF Digital Bank (per our review) | 5.00% discretionary on first RM2,000 | Islamic digital bank | Yes, to RM250,000 | Rate only on first RM2,000 |
| StashAway Simple | 3.4% projected net of fees, dated 19 August 2025 | 80% Principal Islamic MMF, 20% AmIncome Fund (conventional) | No | No minimum, 0.15% fee |
One correction to a common assumption. StashAway's Simple page, fetched on 13 September 2026, lists its underlying funds as 80% Principal Islamic Money Market Fund and 20% AmIncome Fund. AmIncome is a conventional fund, so the standard Simple portfolio is not a fully Shariah product. StashAway's account agreement refers to Shariah-compliant offerings held in non-interest sub-accounts, but we could not find a separately published rate for a Shariah version of Simple, so treat StashAway as a halal cash option only if the app shows you a Shariah-labelled portfolio. For direct Islamic money market funds with higher minimums, see our money market fund guide.
Is the daily return riba?
No, and the reason is the asset side. A conventional money market fund earns interest on bank deposits and commercial paper. Principal e-Cash Fund earns profit on Islamic deposits, which Malaysian banks structure under commodity murabahah (tawarruq) or wakalah contracts, and profit on Islamic money market instruments and sukuk. The daily distribution is the fund passing through that profit after fees. Nothing in the structure pays a fixed, guaranteed sum for the use of money, which is the definition of riba.
The weaker objection is gharar: the rate is a projection. That is why TNG's page says returns are not guaranteed and why Principal describes the yield as a daily snapshot. Scholars treat variable, non-guaranteed returns on a pooled investment as the opposite of riba, not a form of it. The fund's own disclosures list credit, liquidity and concentration risk, which are the normal risks of a short-term fund and not Shariah concerns. Readers who want more on how bank-side returns are structured can read how Islamic deposit returns work in Malaysia.
Zakat on a GO+ balance
A GO+ balance is cash equivalent, so it falls under zakat on savings rather than zakat on investments. Lembaga Zakat Selangor's published method takes the balance at the end of your haul and adds it to the balances of every other account you hold before testing against nisab. If you use the Gregorian calendar for your haul, LZS applies 2.577% rather than 2.5% to account for the shorter lunar year. Our zakat hub and the detailed article on zakat on income and savings cover the state-by-state nisab figures.
Verdict: who should use GO+
If you keep a float of a few thousand ringgit for daily spending, GO+ is the right place for it: it is Shariah-certified, it pays a rate close to the best PIDM-protected Islamic savings accounts, and the money is already where you spend it. Enable Quick Cash In and stop thinking about it.
If you are building an emergency fund above RM20,000, GO+ cannot hold it and should not be asked to. Put the first layer in GO+, the next layer in a PIDM-protected Islamic savings account with the best unconditional rate you qualify for, and anything beyond that in an Islamic money market fund or term deposit. If you are a strict investor who wants a deposit guarantee on every ringgit of cash, skip GO+ entirely and use an Islamic bank; the yield difference is small and the guarantee is real. Facts checked against touchngo.com.my, principal.com.my, stashaway.my on 13 September 2026.
Frequently asked questions
Is GO+ Shariah-compliant according to the Securities Commission?
Yes. The underlying fund, Principal e-Cash Fund, is registered with the Securities Commission as an Islamic money market fund and has Amanie Advisors Sdn Bhd as its appointed Shariah adviser. It has held that status since 18 August 2021. The adviser reviews the portfolio monthly and issues an annual Shariah certificate that appears in the fund's annual report, which you can download from Principal's website.
Is GO+ protected by PIDM?
No. GO+ is a unit trust investment, not a deposit, so PIDM's RM250,000 deposit guarantee does not apply. TNG states this on the GO+ page. The practical risk is low because the fund holds short-term Islamic bank deposits and instruments approved by Bank Negara's Shariah Advisory Council, but a loss is possible in a severe credit event and nobody will make it good.
What is the maximum I can keep in GO+?
RM20,000. TNG Digital raised the cap from RM9,500 to RM20,000 on 14 November 2024, and the change applied automatically to new and existing users. There is no minimum balance to earn the daily return, and the minimum cash-in is RM10. Any amount above the cap has to sit elsewhere, which is why most people pair GO+ with an Islamic savings account.
How is the GO+ daily return calculated?
The fund distributes its net income daily and reinvests it as new units at RM1.0000, so the number of units you hold grows while the price stays flat. Principal's annualised yield is the latest daily distribution multiplied by the number of distributions in a year. On 13 September 2026 that was 3.15%. Cash-ins before 4pm start earning the next day according to TNG's user guidance.
Do I pay zakat on my GO+ balance?
Yes, as part of zakat on savings. Add your GO+ balance at the end of your haul to your other bank balances; if the total meets nisab, zakat is 2.5% of the whole, or 2.577% if you measure the year by the Gregorian calendar, following Lembaga Zakat Selangor's published method. Use the current nisab figure on your state zakat body's website, which changes with the gold price.
Compare providers in your state
See side-by-side comparisons of Shariah-compliant products, or let our matcher recommend the best options for your situation.
Is GO+ better than an Islamic fixed deposit?
For money you may need within weeks, yes, because GO+ has no lock-in and pays daily. For money you can leave for six or twelve months, an Islamic term deposit at a bank is PIDM-protected and may pay more at the longer tenors. The right split is GO+ for the float, a savings account for the next layer, and term deposits for cash you will not touch.
