Singapore’s drive to cashless payments began with the launch of the General Interbank Recurring Order (GIRO) and Network for Electronic Transfers (NETS) in 1985. GIRO permits you to make the payment directly from your bank account to the billing organization. All you need to do is sign up for cashless payment by submitting a direct debit authorization form to the bank.
You don’t have to carry cash anymore when shopping at a mall, eating at a restaurant, and renting a bicycle in Singapore. The increasing popularity of e-payment is a step towards cashless payments. Singapore has played a leading role in the development of financial technology in the ASEAN region. It has come through mobile payments and e-payments, like credit cards, and debit cards from payment companies like DBS. For cashless payment, some mobile wallets in Singapore offer the most common methods.
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Here are some of the popular cashless payment methods in Singapore:
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PayNow
With PayNow, you can make a peer-to-peer fund transfer, which is initiated by 10 participating banks and 4 participating non-bank financial institutions. Some popular banks include DBS Bank/POSB, CIMB Bank Berhad, HSBC, Citibank, Bank of China, Maybank, OCBC Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, and United Overseas Bank.
PayNow facilitates these banks’ retail customers to send and receive money from one bank to another bank in Singapore via Fast And Secure Transfers (FAST) using a mobile phone, Virtual Payment Address (VPA), or Singapore FIN/NRIC immediately. You don’t require any bank account number to transfer funds through PayNow.
Apart from retail customers, companies also can receive and make payments through PayNow Corporate using their Unique Entity Number (UEN). The other option to make payments on PayNow is by scanning the PayNow QR code.
DBS PayLah!
Introduced by DBS Bank, DBS PayLah! is an Ultimate Everyday App that allows you to make cashless payments in Singapore. With it, you can order food, buy tickets, rent a cab, shop, book hotel accommodation, and so on. By using the PayLah! app every time will help you get reward points or stamp cards that earn you cash back.
Remember, when you order your favorite dish or book a ride, you get cashback via stamp cards. Moreover, you can also use it to redeem the reward points earned on DBS/POSB Cards. The other features include instant fund transfers to or from anyone, even PayNow users, and a quick view of the PayLah! e-statements.
Quick Response (QR) Codes
The other cashless payment method commonly used by people in Singapore is QR codes, which are numerous black and white squares and machine-readable. Most banks in Singapore permit their customers to pay for merchandise or bills by scanning a QR code.
You can find most of the outlets displaying their QR code at the entrance of their outlet to help customers scan it on their mobile and make payments. For instance, DBS allows its customers to use the UnionPay QR Code to pay with PayLah! in and outside Singapore.
NETSPay
You can go cashless by paying on your mobile phone using the NetsPay App. Banks like DBS encourage you to download NETSPay App on your smartphone and register your DBS/POSB ATM card digitally. After digitizing it, you need to just scan the QR code or click on a contactless terminal to pay instantly.
You can now easily go cashless in Singapore by making contactless payments on your mobile phone through your bank’s online platform using any digital payment method.