Gen Z is leading the way as more Singaporeans go cashless: Visa study
04/05/2022
Contactless payments is the most preferred payment method by Singaporeans
Three in five Singapore consumers have tried going fully cashless during the pandemic, according to Visa’s Consumer Payment Attitudes Study 20221 and Gen Z makes up majority of this segment. More than four in five Gen Z2 consumers (82%) have tried going fully cashless, while nearly three in four Gen Y3 consumers (74%) have attempted to do so. Other demographic groups are likely to follow their lead in embracing cashless, with the pandemic compelling consumers to continue adopting digital behaviours and lifestyles.
Singaporeans cited reasons such as greater speed and efficiency (47%), convenience (47%), and ease of tracking financial records (43%) for going cashless. Categories where consumers are most likely to go cashless comprise of day-to-day transactions including bill payments (62%), public transport (59%), and taxi and ridesharing (56%).
“As the network working for everyone, Visa is powering Singapore’s cashless transition by providing the foundation for new players to scale digital payment experiences. Contactless payment, which is the country’s most preferred payment method, is also driving Singapore’s transition to cashless. More than nine in 10 Visa transactions in Singapore are contactless payments4 and this is one of the highest contactless payment penetration figures in the world,” said Kunal Chatterjee Visa Country Manager for Singapore & Brunei.
Nearly three-quarters of Singapore consumers (74%) use contactless cards, and many are frequent users. Eighty-four percent of those who currently use the payment method use it at least once a week. Other digital payment methods that are widely used in Singapore include online card payments (81%), mobile contactless payments (49%) and swiping or inserting a card (48%).
Singaporeans’ growing preference for cashless payments is also influencing the way they shop. For the Gen Z segment, seven in 10 (70%) are comfortable going to stores with self-checkout lines, and 70 percent of them are comfortable with biometric-authenticated payments.
The rise of digital payments also continues to accelerate the growth of eCommerce and new shopping channels in Singapore. More than three in five Singapore consumers (62%) shopped online more frequently through apps and websites, with Gen Y (65%) and Gen Z (63%) leading this trend. One-third (34%) also shopped more often via direct home delivery after ordering by phone, while one quarter shopped more frequently via social media platforms. Gen Z is also at the forefront of these emerging shopping channels, driving the rising use of direct home delivery (57%) and retail on social media (38%).
“Singaporeans are extremely savvy when it comes to using digital payments and we are seeing more digital commerce experiences transforming within the payments ecosystem. The pandemic has accelerated the growth of digital payments in the country, and we are confident that this growth will continue as we work with all players within the payments industry to provide seamless, convenient and secure payment experiences,” added Kunal.
1 The Visa Consumer Payment Attitudes Study was conducted in September 2021 by CLEAR with 1,000 Singaporeans aged 18-65 years of age. This is part of a regional research project conducted in Southeast Asia on 6,520 consumers across 7 markets.
2 Gen Z refers to consumers born from 1998 onwards (aged 18 to 23 in 2021).
3 Gen Y refers to consumers born between 1982 to 1997 (aged 24 to 39 in 2021).
4 VisaNet data as of Dec 2021
About Visa Inc.
Visa (NYSE: V) is a world leader in digital payments, facilitating more than 215 billion payments transactions between consumers, merchants, financial institutions and government entities across more than 200 countries and territories each year. Our mission is to connect the world through the most innovative, convenient, reliable and secure payments network, enabling individuals, businesses and economies to thrive. We believe that economies that include everyone everywhere, uplift everyone everywhere and see access as foundational to the future of money movement. Learn more at Visa.com.