Visa aiming for a cashless S'pore

VISA Singapore wants to displace cash in the city-state, where nearly 60 per cent of payments for personal consumption spending are already settled by electronic means, a top executive said in an interview.

Part of that push will come from revving up contactless payment services in Singapore, where the penetration rate is second in the world only to Australia, said Visa's country manager for Singapore and Brunei, Ooi Huey Tyng.

"It is a very mature market for cards," said Ms Ooi, referring to Singapore. "However, if you look at the opportunity, it still remains really large and untapped. There are lots of opportunities to displace cash."

A recent Euromonitor report, as cited by Visa Singapore, showed that about 58 per cent of personal consumption expenditure in Singapore are completed via electronic payments. These would include card payments, NETS transactions, and GIRO payments…