SINGAPORE: My experiment to use only cash for a week in June got off to a false start. I had gone to Five Oars Coffee Roasters for a meeting, and though the shop only accepted contactless card payments, my drink was paid for by the organiser. I also paid cash for dinner and dessert that evening without a hitch.
All good, I thought, until I belatedly realised that I had taken a Grab to and from the meeting, and the rides were paid for using a credit card I had added to my ride-hailing accounts. That’s how ingrained cashless payments have become in my life. I knew then that the cashless-only experiment would be much easier, but first, I had to dig into my stash of notes from Chinese New Year and get through a cash-only week. Cashless options have become more mainstream in Singapore, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the trend.
Some shops and food outlets have even gone fully cashless, but the country’s electronic payments journey started decades ago. Back in 1985 – the year after the General Interbank Recurring Order (GIRO) was introduced – the government launched a national campaign to minimise cash transactions. At the time, it was estimated that the government would save S$24.5 million in labour costs if cash transactions were minimised. The campaign sought to encourage Singaporeans to receive their salaries via direct credit, pay their bills through GIRO and use the new Electronic Funds Transfer at Point of Sale (EFTPOS).
The implementation of the EFTPOS scheme, which allowed customers to pay for their purchases and bills with an ATM card instead of cash, was said to be the most challenging part of the campaign. It was implemented by a company called Network for Electronic Transfers Singapore, better known as NETS. The company remains a household name and has adapted to offer contactless card, in-app and QR code payments that are often used today.
NO PAYLAH, NO PAYNOW, CASH ONLY
All these options, however, were off the table for my experiment. Over seven days, I used cash for every transaction possible – at cafes and shops, and even on public transport. I planned to book a plane ticket that week, but delayed it in part because of my cash-only week. The experiment made me feel a bit socially anxious. I knew that if a shop did not accept cash, I could just switch over to a cashless option, but for shops that did take cash, I envisioned myself counting coins or fiddling with my wallet and causing inconvenience while other customers breezed by with their contactless payments.
In the end, I failed to use cash just once, apart from on MRT rides, which have no cash option available. On my first Grab ride during the experiment, I left home thinking I had S$12 (US$9) cash for an S$11.90 ride, and thought I would simply forfeit the 10 cents if the driver did not have any change on hand. Instead, I discovered that I had a S$5 instead of a S$2 note. The driver, Mr P Ananthan, noticed that my ride was tagged “cash,” and wisely asked if I had small change. He then asked if I would prefer to use PayNow when I said I had S$15 in cash. He told me that he only gets around one or two passengers a day who request to pay by cash, and among those who do, there are often young people in their 20s and 30s. “They use cash to keep track of their spending,” said the 63-year-old.
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When he first started driving for Grab seven years ago, more passengers used cash, he said. “Even foreigners are starting to pay by card now.” Mr Ananthan said he does not mind cash or cashless, as long as the passengers pay. But he added that some try to pay for their rides with S$50 or S$100 notes and expect him to have change….
