Enterprise Singapore (ESG), Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) and the SG Digital Office (SDO) announced that 10,000 stallholders – more than half of Singapore’s stallholders – have adopted e-payments. 10,000 hawkers using e-payments, with transactions growing four times since June 2020
Transactions volume and value for January 2021 also crossed the 1.2 million and S$14 million mark respectively for the first time. This is a four times increase compared to June 2020, when the Hawkers Go Digital programme first launched. More than 7,400 stallholders have also since received the e-Payment Bonus.
The Hawkers Go Digital programme, launched in June 2020, aims to reach out to and encourage 18,000 stallholders to adopt the Unified e-Payment Solution by June 2021. Stallholders will receive a $300 E-payment Bonus for up to five months, for every month which they achieve at least 20 transactions.
The Government first rolled out the unified e-payment solution for hawker centres (cooked food and market stalls), coffeeshops and industrial canteens operating in government-owned (HDB, JTC and NEA) premises in June 2019. The initiative provides a single, interoperable system, lower merchant discount rate and quicker transaction of credit for stallholders.
The multi-agency effort to drive e-payment adoption among hawkers and stallholders nationwide is led by ESG and IMDA, supported by SDO’s Digital Ambassadors, Housing and Development Board (HDB), JTC Corporation (JTC) and National Environment Agency (NEA).
Extended e-payment bonus
To provide more time for those who have not adopted e-payment to make use of the E-Payment Bonus, the eligibility period has been extended from 31 December 2020 to 31 May 2021.
The bonus complements the government’s efforts to help stallholders adopt e-payment solutions to improve their productivity and to encourage the sustained use of e-payment.
Stallholders will get monthly instalments of $300, if they fulfil at least 20 transactions (of at least $1) each month by 31 May 2021. All applicable bonus will still be paid by 30 June 2021.
Lucky draw campaign extended to encourage more consumers to use e-payments at hawkers
The Hawkers Go Digital “Scan Pay Win” lucky draw campaign that was launched on 1 November 2020 has been extended to 30 April 2021 to encourage more consumers to support stallholders by using e-payment for their purchases.
Safeguarding against fraudulent transactions
IMDA and SDO have collaborated with NETS to enhance the features of the NETSBiz app to make it easier for stallholders to track their payment transactions.
The improvements, to be rolled out progressively from March 2021, will include a bigger font size to make it easier for hawkers to see the transaction from a distance, the use of colour to highlight the latest transaction and a distinct audio alert for incoming transactions that will be loud enough to be heard in a hawker environment.
