Chart of the Day: Singapore’s streak of improving payment performance ends in Q1

Slow payments comprised two-thirds of transactions.

Singapore’s three-quarter streak of improvement in payment performance has come to an abrupt halt, as the Singapore Commercial Credit Bureau (SCCB) reports that payment performance has shown strong signs of weakening in 1Q16.

According to the SCCB’s news release, prompt payments accounted for less than half of all payment transactions while slow payments made up more than two-thirds of all payment transactions for the first time since 3Q15.

Overall prompt payments dropped to its second lowest reading in one year when prompt payment statistics posted 39.04 percentage points (pp) in the same quarter last year.

Slow payments have similarly crumbled to its second highest reading in one year. QoQ, slow payments climbed 11.15 pp from 35.43% in 4Q15 to 46.58% in 1Q16. Compared to a year ago, slow payments dipped 4.83 pp from 51.41% in 1Q15 to 46.58% in 1Q16.

Meanwhile, partial payments inched up .84 pp QoQ for the fourth straight quarter from 11.46% in 4Q15 to 12.31% in 1Q16. On a YoY basis, partial payments rose slightly by 2.76 pp from 9.55% in 1Q15 to 12.31% in the same period this year.

From a sectoral perspective, QoQ slow payments have deteriorated across the construction, manufacturing, retail, services, and wholesale sectors. This is in contrast to 4Q15 when only one out of the five industries saw increased slow payments. On a YoY basis, payment delays have picked up across four of five sectors this quarter. Further, construction is the only sector to a YoY increase in slow payments.