SINGAPORE wants to phase out the use of cheques by 2025, which is but a mere six years away. Even in this era of rapid advances in technology and their mass adoption, it is an ambitious target.

Despite the proliferation of electronic payments including the national fund transfer service PayNow and PayNow Corporate, many individuals and businesses have continued to cling onto the traditional mode of physical payments in the form of cash or cheque. The banking system is robust enough to cope with any amount or takeup of e-payments. But persuading every customer to make the switch is harder. Bankers say the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) need a little more nudge, despite making big strides in their use of e-payments.

Based on OCBC Bank's data on its SME customers, cheques as a percentage of total transaction volume fell from 71 per cent in 2015 to 57 per cent in 2018. During this period, they recorded a 51 per cent increase in e-transaction volume. On the other hand, SMEs still accounted for about 80 per cent of OCBC's total business cheque volume in 2018.