By Zack L. Updated 22 August 16:00.
Last night PM Lee covered many topics on Singapore. He mentioned that Singapore is making good progress, both locally and internationally. There is still work to be done, for higher wages, preparing Singaporeans via Skills Future for better jobs. However, Singapore is lagging behind in the digital world. Here are the areas he covered.
E-Payments
60% of consumer payments last year were made in cash, a Monetary Authority of Singapore-commissioned study by consulting firm KPMG Advisory revealed. PM Lee said that e-payment is a key part of the digital transformation. So why does e-payment matter?
It benefits the government. Cashless payments means there is a lower demand for physical dollars. But what's in it for consumers?
Last year, the cost of processing cheques alone was $2 billion (0.5% of SG's GDP, or 8,000 BTO homes). This includes the cost of storage, transportation, security and incineration. Going cashless will reduce this cost significantly.
But why are most Singaporeans still using cash despite the many forms of cashless payments such as Samsung Pay, Apple Pay, Android Pay, DBS Paylah!, EZ-link, NETS, debit & credit cards?
"In Singapore we too have e-payments! But we have too many schemes and systems that don't talk to one another," said PM Lee. "So people have to carry multiple cards, and businesses have to install multiple readers."
Firstly, what do merchants have to gain? They or their customers have to bare the transaction fee as compared to cash. And if there were to have any issues, it might take weeks or months to get it settled.
Secondly, if you pay cashless, odds are you will be spending more as compared to paying by cash. Holding a certain amount of cash will limit your expenditure. Whereas paying by card is limitless. Let's sidetrack a little. Uncle Sim, famous for paying via VISA. Let's get real, majority of the food vendors at coffee shops at neighbourhood districts only accept cash! Even more vendors
Thirdly, nowadays most places accept payment from EZ-link cards. But 15 years ago when EZ-link cards was first introduced, it was solely used for transportation. The average Singaporean tops up $10-$50, to pay for transportation for a week to a month. Now why would we change that habit and top up $50-$100 to go cashless and use our EZ-link cards to make purchases and risk losing a card that does not have your name or identity on it?
Lastly, if you were to purchase goods or services online, you should be weary of scammers. What they promise and what they deliver may differ greatly. But if you were to purchase it with cash over a counter, you know exactly what you are purchasing. Of course, there are benefits of going cashless, such as rebates, discounts and promotions, cashback et cetera. But maybe its just not enough to outweigh the drawbacks of cashless payments.
PM Lee told a story about Manpower Minister Lim Swee Say queuing up to buy chestnuts from a roadside hawker in Shanghai. Lim noticed the customers in front of him waving their handphones and taking their chestnuts without paying. He thought there must be some kind of special offer going on.
When it was his turn, Lim said he didn’t need the special offer, and would pay by cash. The chestnut seller stared at him and pointed to a QR code. While a humorous story, it carried the subtle implication that if a roadside hawker in China can master cashless payments, why not Singapore, the self-proclaimed IT hub? With E-Payments Comes Digital IDs - SingPass
In 2003, the government introduced SingPass to access e-gov sites. SingPass allows you to have a digital ID with OneKey, which allows you to purchase goods and services electronically. Have you used it before? Well, as an NSman, I had to use SingPass a lot. And frankly speaking, it has a lot of room for improvements. But that's for another day.
Minister-in-charge of the Smart Nation Initiative Vivian Balakrishnan said that SingPass needs to be upgraded as it lacks biometrics such as fingerprints and encryption. Private sectors such as banks are not on board with SingPass and OneKey too! They would rather use their in-house technology instead, citing security and commercial concerns. Smart Nation - Parking Couponless
On top of e-payments and having a digital ID, PM Lee discussed the Smart Nation. Smart Nation simply means integrating technology into all aspects of our lives. PM Lee announced a new GovTech initiative - Parking.sg App, to be rolled out in October 2017.
With this app, you do not need to buy physical coupons (those purple and orange ones), but pay with the app. Say goodbye to looking out for Coupon Officers, or rushing back to your car when your coupon runs out. You pay for how much you use now. In the near future, parking at 1,150 carparks here, including kerbside parking spaces, will be coupon-free. The app will pave the way for the next-generation satellite Electronic Road Pricing system, which is expected to be introduced in 2020. Satellites will monitor vehicles to calculate charges and parking fees, and bill motorists electronically, saving on enforcement costs. So that means cannot anyhow park already hor! Once again, technology stealing the jobs of people. Surveillance - More CCTVs!
Last but not least, PM Lee talked about Surveillance. For anti-terrorism purposes (and other local mishaps like the Little India Riots), more CCTVs will be installed across our tiny little island. Not only that, Singapore is looking at combining the various sources of data, say from hotel and LTA cameras and social media videos, to respond more quickly and effectively to the next major incident.
Though this is somewhat different from the first three points (improving lifestyle), it is still important to mitigate terror attacks. National Day Rally 2017 (watch from 42 mins onward): |