WEANING Singaporeans off cash has taken decades, and the process continues.

As early as the 1980s, there were already campaigns to minimise cash transactions. These included moving to cashless paydays, encouraging the payment of bills through Giro, and implementing electronic payments at points of sale, with a goal to make cashless transactions “a way of life”.

On the face of it, the dream of a cashless society appears to be close to reality. Today, nearly four in five transactions at points of sale in Singapore are carried out digitally.