Keep the change: Singapore faces uphill battle persuading hawker stalls to phase out cash and go digital
- More than 10,000 stallholders have adopted e-payment solutions but Singaporeans have been relatively slow to give up on cash
- This isn’t the first time Singapore has tried to convince its hawkers to embrace change: other digitisation efforts included incentives to join food delivery platforms
For generations of Singaporeans, stalls selling popular street food have been an indispensable part of local life. Even amid unbearable midday heat, these open-air complexes draw office professionals, families and retirees with favourites such as chicken rice, prawn noodles and the nasi lemak coconut rice dish.
Most of these stalls have been cash-only businesses though, and that’s part of the challenge as Singapore encourages consumers to use electronic payments.
As part of the Hawkers Go Digital programme that offered incentives like cash payouts, more than 10,000 stallholders, or about half of the total on government-owned premises, have adopted e-payment solutions, according to a statement by the government agencies in charge of the programme. Heading a year into the scheme, Singapore aims to convince all 18,000 stalls in these markets and hawker centres to offer e-payment options by June.