It's time for banks to take digitalisation to new levels

YEARS before Covid-19 struck, a shift was underway in Singapore's financial landscape: digital banking and payment solutions were slowly, but steadily, gaining traction among consumers and merchants. The novel coronavirus outbreak, which has forced the implementation of social distancing measures and essentially driven people indoors for safety, is now supercharging this shift.

In the first quarter of 2020, at the early onset of the pandemic, all three local banks reported notable growth in digital transactions. DBS Bank said overall cashless transactions nearly doubled from the numbers in the same period last year. United Overseas Bank (UOB) recorded a 44-per-cent increase in online grocery shopping using the bank's cards, while OCBC Bank said customer spending on food deliveries and digital services such as Netflix and Spotify went up by about half.

On the other hand, the volume of cash transactions has fallen. Consumers are making fewer trips to automated teller machines (ATMs), with DBS registering an unprecedented 11 per cent fall in cash withdrawals and deposits. Moreover, in line with best hygiene practices, consumers are doing their best not to use cash to pay for goods over the counter, such as at supermarkets.