Innovation

Integration into a cashless society

The problem that is selected is the elderly’s adaptation into a cashless society. With the
Smart Nation Initiative that Singapore hopes to achieve by 2024, the Singaporean society is
being transformed into one that is more productive and efficient. (1) Under this initiative, one
improvement is to switch the main preferred payment method from cash to cashless
payments. With platforms such as Myinfo and PayNow being launched by the government to
assimilate society into a cashless one, it is indeed well received by the majority of the
population. However, many incentives given through those platforms cannot be enjoyed by
the elderly due to a lack of proficiency in using online payment. In 2017 alone, S$16.7 trillion
dollars worth of transaction being done by mobile payments in China (2) and it can be seen
that e-commerce is becoming a large part of our financial sector. Singapore is China’s
largest investment destination in Asia (9), and this e-market is one that the nation will want to
tap in as well. If the elderly are unable to switch to cashless modes of payment such as
credit cards or online banking, there will be a huge market that is inaccessible to them. In
Singapore, there are more than 1000 hawker stalls offering discounts for cashless payments
as part of the e-payment drive throughout a month’s span. The end goal is to convert $1
billion cash-based payments across 6000 hawker stalls into e-payments.(8) As seen, if daily
commerce were to be switched to a cashless form of payment, the elderly, will certainly be
lacking behind as a result.

What leads to this is firstly the stigmas that the elderly carry with them. Being borned in a
generation where there is a lack of financial security, physical cash is viewed as something
more valuable than mere digits in a bank. With the failure of multiple banks throughout their
life, that viewpoint is enforced. Not just that, there is also a view that it is unnecessary to
switch the mode of payment into cashless ones, causing there to be an unwillingness to
learn despite courses being offered by the government. Singapore’s elderly do indeed have
a decent internet literacy rate, being ranked the fifth in the world with 78% of those aged 55
and above accessing the internet daily. (6) So then, the cause of this problem boils down
more to the mentality of the elderly. In Singapore, only 9% of Singaporeans prefer to use
online banking and when asked to account for it, 73% were afraid of personal data leakage,
making them prefer traditional passwords and numerical pins.(7)

Currently, the solutions that are offered include the Silver Infocomm Initiative that is
launched in 2007, encouraging and equipping those aged 50 and above to be able to adapt
to a tech savvy society (4). Not just that, the government and banks have respectively
launched many initiatives and given incentives for the switch to cashless payment. PayNow
itself has 2.3 million registered users (3). So then, why are these current measures not
effective in reaching the elderly? Mentality is something that can only be shaped from the
outside, but changed from the inside. The mentality that cashless modes of payment are
unreliable has to be changed in order to make these current measures more effective.
 The solution that will be proposed hopes to be able to bridge the gaps that current
measures have and allow the elderly to have a clearer understanding as to the necessity
and benefits of switching to cashless banking. Firstly, a gradual removal of passbook usage
can be done, as by doing so there will be a push for automated teller machine ( atm) cards.
This is a more forceful way for people to switch to cashless payments, but it will certainly be
effective. Secondly, assurance from the government can be done through modes of media,
such as ads, to allow the elderly to have access to more information that can allow them to
re-evaluate their decision on using cashless payments. Knowing that the MAS backs banks
in Singapore, they can be assured in placing their monies in the bank.(5) Beyond these
policy level ideas, there can also be ground up initiatives. There are certainly courses offered
by community to bridge the technological gap, however these courses are often focused
more on bringing the elderly into this technology heavy age, rather than cashless payments.
Thus, by having community centres incorporating cashless payment courses into their
current courses, the concerns the elderly may have can be adequately addressed. With that,
this is the end of the report.

References:
1. (n.d.). Retrieved from
https://www.smartnation.sg/why-Smart-Nation/transforming-singapore
2. Hermesauto. (2018, February 19). China's mobile payment volume surges in 2017 to
S$16.7 trillion by October. Retrieved from
https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/chinas-mobile-payment-volume-is-worlds
-largest-at-s167-trillion
3. (n.d.). Retrieved from
https://www.smartnation.sg/why-Smart-Nation/transforming-singapore
4. When it comes to digital skills, age is just a number. (n.d.). Retrieved from
https://www.imda.gov.sg/infocomm-and-media-news/buzz-central/2017/6/when-it-co
mes-to-digital-skills-age-is-just-a-number
5. Lim, K. (2018, April 03). Burden of rescuing failed banks in Singapore likely to rest
on MAS, shareholders: Moody's. Retrieved from
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/banking/burden-of-rescuing-failed-banks-in-si
ngapore-likely-to-rest-on-mas-shareholders
6. Migration. (2016, January 20). Majority of Singapore seniors are Web savvy, says
global study. Retrieved from
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/majority-of-singapore-seniors-are-web-savvy
-says-global-study
7. Why only 9% of Singaporeans prefer to use banking apps. (2017, July 11). Retrieved
from
https://sbr.com.sg/financial-services/in-focus/why-only-9-singaporeans-prefer-use-ba
nking-apps
8. Wong, D. (2018, July 06). Discount for cashless payments at more than 1,000 hawker
stalls as part of e-payment drive. Retrieved from
 https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/discount-for-cashless-payments-at-more-than
-1000-hawker-stalls-as-part-of-e-payment-drive
9.