Monetary Auth of Singapore Promote cashless payment
PM Lee's call to promote cashless payment is making slow progress after nearly a year. It reflects badly on his leadership and on Singapore.

I wish to suggest this step to speed up the transformation.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore should required all banks to provide an easy way for customers to top up their e-wallet or smart card (such as EZ Link). A mobile number can be entered into the smart card to facilitate the topup.

This service should be provided for the same fee as withdrawing cash from ATM machines, which is currently free.

The topup can be done at an ATM machine or online.

If the public is able to top up their e-wallet or smart card easily, they are more inclined to use e-wallet or smart card payment.

We still have to deal with the problem of many platforms. It is likely that most customers will gravitate to a platform that has the most vendors. If several platforms are to be viable, just like having many banks, we will need a clearing house to allow the payments to pass from one platform to another.

I hope that the people in MAS or Smart Nation project will pay attention to this matter. We need a structural change to achieve the goal of cashless payment.

Tan Kin Lian

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