How Visa is accelerating digital payment adoption among Singapore’s elderly

New technologies like mobile peer-to-peer services, tokenization, and smart contracts are redefining the payment industry from the ground up. But while these developments are exciting, they’re still very much nascent.

This is evident in Asia, where new technology adoption and financial access are very real challenges. Demonetization, for one, can come with many growing pains, as India has experienced.

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To prepare for possible issues that may arise as societies shift to digital payments, established players are looking to work more closely with fintech startups, providing support and resources to those with great ideas to share. For instance, payment and technology giant Visa launched the Visa Everywhere Initiative in the US in 2015.

To date, the program has worked with more than 2,100 startups and raised over US$2 billion in funding. It’s now present in over 40 countries across North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. Most recently, the program launched in Singapore during the city-state’s FinTech Festival in November last year.

The Singapore experience

Compared to its neighbors in Southeast Asia, Singapore is ahead in e-payment adoption. Three in five merchants accept e-payments, and locals are spoiled for choice when it comes to e-wallet and cashless payment options. With its Smart Nation initiatives, which include the government’s goal to see the country check-free by 2025, Singapore is well on its way to demonetization.

However, there are still many improvements that could smoothen the island nation’s path to becoming a cashless society. An aging population, for example, means that education is necessary to raise awareness for payment-related apps among the elderly.

That conclusion is supported by data from the 2018 Visa Digital Inclusion Study, which surveyed Singaporean senior citizens aged between 50 and 80. It found that while 84 percent of respondents owned a smartphone, only 29 percent used apps for ride-hailing and 22 percent for online shopping.

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“Given the country is moving towards [becoming] a smart nation, there is a need for digital inclusion for all citizens, particularly among senior citizens in Singapore, to ensure no one is left behind. The nation has to educate senior citizens on the usage of digital devices and apps,” says Kunal Chatterjee, Visa’s country manager for Singapore and Brunei.

To tackle this issue, Visa partnered with local government agency People’s Association to launch a series of courses to teach Singapore’s seniors about digital payments.

Chatterjee believes that a more seamless electronic payment experience could go a long way.

“There is also a huge opportunity to expand our acceptance footprint in the country, particularly in public transport and hawker centers, to provide seamless and convenient electronic payment experiences for Singaporeans,” he adds.

Ideation to reality

But while incumbents like Visa are making strides to improve consumer payment experiences, they’re also looking for fresh approaches from startups. As such, the Visa Everywhere Initiative counts improvements to the consumer payment and commerce experience as one of the three issues that newer players can tackle.

The initiative hopes to hear from innovative founders who have ideas on how to use data and analytics to improve payment user experience, encourage new segments of consumers (such as the elderly) to adopt digital payments, and provide consumers with alternative access to credit.

The other two issues include accelerating e-payment acceptance for merchants and businesses and improving the use of digital payments among travelers.

“We believe it is paramount for fintechs to partner with the right association and organization to deliver scale and value to further and strengthen digital inclusion for everyone in Singapore,” Chatterjee says.

The Visa Everywhere Initiative is a global innovation program that tasks startups with solving payment and commerce challenges of tomorrow, further enhancing their own product propositions and providing visionary solutions for Visa’s vast network of partners.

Winning startups stand a chance to take home US$25,000.​ Applications end on February 3, 2019.​ Visit Visa’s website to find out more.