According to the 2018 Consumer Payment Attitudes Study by Visa, it was found that close to 50 per cent of Singaporeans choose to pay via contactless payments (card and mobile) instead of cash, traditional card payments and QR payments.
In fact, almost all Singaporean are aware of contactless payments for cards (98%), with a large majority of them (83%) use contactless card payments more frequently than they did two years ago.
The study was conducted by Intuit Research with 500 Singaporeans and was done both online and face-to-face with respondents aged 18-60 years of age.
Based on the findings, it was revealed that one of the main reasons why many opt for contactless payments is due to its convenience, where 86% of citizens feel that contactless payments are more convenient and close to 50 per cent say it is hassle-free.
“We have seen tremendous success in contactless payments usage in Singapore. Today, Singapore is one of the top countries in the world for contactless payments penetration. With more new acceptance channels opening up including transit and hawker centres, we believe that the growth of contactless payments usage will accelerate,” said Kunal Chatterjee, Visa Country Manager for Singapore and Brunei.
He added, “Singaporeans are extremely familiar with this mode of payment based on our data and research and it is the top-of-mind payment choice for them given the convenience, speed and security benefits of this payment experience”.
Besides that, the research also indicated that 60 per cent of Singapore consumers are interested in using self-check-out kiosks rather than engaging with a cashier. In addition, more than half (54 per cent) choose contactless cards as their preferred payment method at self-service payment kiosks, and only nine per cent of them choose to use cash.
As for futuristic payment methods, six in 10 Singaporeans are interested in performing transactions using AI chatbots (59%) and close to 90 per cent of them are comfortable with ordering and purchasing goods or services through chatbots.
On top of that, Singaporeans are most comfortable with making bookings (89%), purchasing goods or services (89 per cent) and making bill payments (80%) with this technology.
