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In his 2017 National Day Rally Speech, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong quipped that Singapore trails behind other cities when it comes to electronic payments, and called for systems to be simplified and integrated.
Staying Relevant
PayNow was launched in July 2017. You can use PayNow to instantly pay your friends and family with only their mobile numbers or NRIC/FIN details.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the banks are working with industry players to simplify e-payments acceptance by merchants.
For merchants who prefer an infrastructure-light and less costly solution, there are plans to develop a common QR code for Singapore (SGQR code).
How has PayNow impacted Singapore?
- "Annually, transactions have grown about 25 per cent,” said Ms Jacquelyn Tan (Country Head of Personal Finance Services at UOB Singapore).
- “Within that arena, there are contactless payments that can take across different form factors of plastics, wearables or even mobile phones. That in itself has grown about 120 per cent year-on-year."
- “Decrease in over-the-counter cheques & cash payments by about 15% annually.” She added that the trend of double-digit growth is expected to continue for the next three years.
- OCBC, too, revealed that since the launch of PayNow, close to 100,000 people have linked their mobile or NRIC numbers to their personal OCBC bank accounts to facilitate fund transfers.
Learning from the best
"Yes, we can learn from China's advances in electronic payment systems, which are arguably the "most sophisticated and commonly adopted" in the world, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in a interview with Xinhuanet on 18 September 2017.
Meanwhile, AliPay and WeChat are making its entrance in Singapore.
How will Singapore be impacted in terms of FinTech e-payments in general?
- Singapore officially authorized the use of NFC nationwide a couple of years ago and consumers have been “tapping” their phones everywhere.
- Both of these mobile payment solutions (Google & Apple) rely on contactless payment using near-field communications (NFC) technology. Many shoppers have even started to use their NFC-enabled phones to pay for goods with digital wallets.
- Singapore is soon becoming a cashless society with this revolutionary contactless payment scheme, all thanks to FinTech.
Video on Cashless Singapore
(0:22 - 1:31)
Brief Summary
- Economy grows & Payment becomes much easier
- Self service is possible, shorter queues, less cashiers needed & greater efficiency
- Dependent on skilled labour > To establish economic growth
- Financial sectors enjoys quicker, easier & automatically tracked transactions
- Increase international competitiveness as a financial hub
- Financially and technologically illiterate may be excluded, security issues may arised and people lose their money through being hacked
- Education schemes to educate financially illiterate, bridge the gap for them to enter our cashless society. Mandatory financial literacy course for the elderly paid via CPF funds
- Government could invest cybersecurity (etc. Endpoint protection, security data analytics
- By providing integrated payment system (etc. PayNow - provides peer-to-peer transfer service to customers of 9 local bank)
- A cashless society grow our economy, change the lives of generations to come and march Singapore towards a smart nation.
Works Cited
Works Cited
Economics Short Films. (2018, May 18). NJC A Cashless Singapore? 2018. YouTube. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyF5motImMc
Haotanto, A. (2016, December 9). The Impact of FinTech On the Lives of Consumers in Singapore. The New Savvy. Retrieved from https://thenewsavvy.com/invest/fintech/impact-of-fintech/
Ong, Y. (2018, July 12). Online payment platform WeChat Pay now available at Changi Airport. The Straits Times. Retrieved from https://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/online-payment-platform-wechat-pay-now-available-at-changi-airport
Suponcic, F. (2016, February 15). Electronic Fund Transfers: 5 Tips to Mitigate Potential Fraud Losses. Skoda Minotti. Retrieved from https://skodaminotti.com/blog/electronic-fund-transfers-5-tips-to-mitigate-potential-fraud-losses/
Tan, W. (2017, August 22). Alipay to launch local wallet for Singapore. TODAY Online. Retrieved from https://www.todayonline.com/business/impact/alipay-launch-local-wallet-singapore-soon
Tham, I. (2017, August 22). Alipay to expand cashless payments to Singapore banking users, inks deal to expand here. The Straits Times. Retrieved from https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/alipay-inks-deal-to-expand-cashless-payment-acceptance-points-in-singapore
Tham, I. (2017, August 23). SMS notification added to PayNow service. The Straits Times. Retrieved from https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/sms-notification-added-to-paynow-service
(2016, July 10). Get a free ride on Prime Taxi when you pay with Dash (Till 31 July 2016). Cheaponana. Retrieved from http://www.cheaponana.com/2016/07/get-a-free-ride-on-prime-taxi-when-you-pay-with-dash-till-31-july-2016/
(2017, April 3). Weekly Topic 011: Alipay. Mister Techs. Retrieved from https://www.mistertechs.com/2017/04/weekly-topic-011-alipay.html
(2017, September 23). Why should Singapore move towards e-payments?. Ministry of Communications and Information. Retrieved from https://www.gov.sg/factually/content/why-should-singapore-move-towards-e-payments
(2017, September 18). Learn from Chinese on how to go cashless, S’poreans urged . TODAY Online. Retrieved from https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/singapore-should-learn-chinas-advanced-e-payment-systems-pm-lee
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