Singapore’s cash use in POS to fall at just 7% by 2027: study 

E-wallets will become Singaporeans’ payment method of choice.

Singapore’s cash use is expected to fall by over half by 2027, according to a report by payments technology and solutions provider Worldpay.

Cash use in the Lion City is predicted to drop from 15% or S$23b of all point-of-sale transactions in 2023, to just 7% or S$11.4b by 2027.

Singapore will join France, South Korea, the UK, and the US, where the transaction value of cash is expected to fall below 10% by 2027, Worldpay said.

Singaporeans are increasingly turning towards cards and digital walletse at point-of-sales payments. Digital wallets are notably projected to account for 44% of transaction value by 2027, or S$75b. In 2023, digital wallets accounted for 22% or S$33.6b of all transaction values.

Credit cards, which were consumers’ first choice as the leading payment method in terms of transaction value at POS in 2023, will fall behind digital wallets in 3 years’ time and account for just 29% (S$49b) of all transaction values by 2027.

Debit cards accounted for 20% of all Singaporean spending in POS terminals as of 2023.

This means that though card and debit card spending will grow, card-backced digital wallets will increasingly become Singaporeans’ choice of payment method in POS terminals.
 
“Cash is declining in Singapore as the use of digital wallets and QR codes are widely considered the norm and that’s a trend we’ll continue to see across APAC,” said Phil Pomford, general manager, APAC, Worldpay. 

Singapore is named one of the leaders in cashless payment adoption in Southeast Asia, with the lowest cash POS transaction value in 2023 at just 15% or less than 1 in 5 transactions, Worldpay said.

In contrast, most of its Southeast Asian peers still see double the share of cash transactions:  Indonesia (38%), Malaysia (32%), the Philippines (44%), Thailand (46%) and Vietnam (38%).