Nearly 5 in 10 Singaporeans don't feel safe shopping online

They need more secure and convenient payment methods.

According to the latest Mastercard Online Shopping Survey, online shopping has become an increasingly popular online activity compared to three years ago (75.4% vs 67.3%), with nearly all 18-24 year olds in Singapore (98.6%) having made an online purchase in the last 3 months. The survey was conducted online in November 2016 across 14 Asia Pacific countries.

Findings from the survey indicate that whilst 52.8% of Singaporeans feel secure shopping online, providing secure payment facilities (87.9%) remains one of the most critical to getting shoppers to make an online purchase. Additionally, the importance of having a convenient way to pay (88.7%) also resonates very strongly amongst consumers in Singapore, followed by the reputation of the website (86.5), price (86.3%) and delivery fees (85.9%).

“It is clear that consumers in Singapore have a strong appetite for online shopping and enhanced security and convenience is absolutely vital when making their purchase decisions. Securing all payments today and tomorrow remains a top priority for Mastercard,” said Deborah Heng, Country Manager of Mastercard Singapore.

Here’s more from Mastercard:

• Secure shopping is a collective effort. While Mastercard together with industry players are committed to engineering seamless payment experiences, consumers too can play a part in ensuring their own payment safety by following these online shopping tips
• Shop only on sites with a “lock” in your browser’s URL bar – this icon indicates that a site is secure.
• To protect your confidential information from prying eyes, refrain from using public unsecured Wi-Fi to perform financial transactions · Track your purchases by monitoring your account activity online and checking statements. Any suspicious or unfamiliar transactions should be reported to a bank immediately. · Make sure your passwords are strong – at least eight characters and a combination of numbers and letters
• Don’t use the same password with different online shops OR to log into your email