Local retailers slow to adopt contactless payments

They're trailing behind regional peers.

Singapore is primed as Southeast Asia's shopping haven, but it seems that retailers here are boggled by contactless payment methods.

A study by RFi Group revealed that only 15% of local retailers accept contactless payments, below the global average of 20% and behind regional peers such as Indonesia, India, Thailand, and Malaysia.

The study also showed that just 19% of Singaporeans are willing to try new types of payments, despite the fact that Singapore leads the region in terms of debit and credit card ownership.

"The evolution of payments in Singapore has been unconventional compared to other Asian or even Western countries. Despite the high ownership of either a contactless payment supported card and quality of infrastructure to support contactless payments, many retailers as well as the public remain slow to adopt smarter payment options. This slow take-up has meant that the country also lags behind in other payment options such as digital wallets and bitcoins. However we believe the local banks, retailers and public will catch-up over the next couple of years becoming leaders in payments solutions trends," said Gerald Ferguson, General Manager RFi Group.