What is cashless in Asia?

tony low
tony low
Aug 24, 2017 · 2 min read

What is the definition of a cashless future in Asia? More online purchases? More rides with ride-hailing providers? which naturally is using less cash and more digital transaction.

Or is it like how PayTM has affected the way people transact in cash in India, how WeChat pay has been widely accepted by more merchant in China now?

Is the rise of digital bank promoting cashless? Will digital banks like Monzo, N26, Revolut and more raising but what is a cashless future? Are we ready to be cashless in S.E.Asia?

The debate of creating a cashless community has been going around and it seems like it’s a logical move to move from physical cash as a transactional medium to a digital version because

  1. It’s safer — We no longer need to carry a large amount of cash with us and it’s all kept in a bank. The chances of getting rob will be minimised, the chances of dropping notes will be minimised.
  2. It’s traceable — we can keep a clear journal of what we’ve spend on and how much we have spend and when we have spend our money and time. It’s a much easily documented compare to cash transactions.
  3. It’s quicker — imagine, no more giving change. This will largely reduce the queue time and labour cost.
  4. It’s much convenient — we no longer need to carry small coins in our pockets, no more carrying cash in a zip lock bag while you are out running and more…

I can’t stress enough the benefit of going cashless but why is it so difficult for some countries to adapt the idea? I decided to do what I always do when facing any questions, I went out and talk to people on the streets.

“Oh, I’m not so sure I would use a digital wallet, don’t feel secure. But I do use NETS*” a lady in her early 50s from the street told me.

“Cash please, it’s simpler” A cab driver told me when I wanted to pay via digital wallet

“Will my digital wallet get hacked? but I do use NETS* and Pay Wave all the time when I shop for groceries” a guy in his mid 30s.

  • NETS — is a leading retail payments company in Singapore and operates Singapore’s national debit scheme. NETS also operates the largest acceptance network comprising 97,000 acceptance points and 35,000 Unified Point-of-Sale (Unified POS) terminals nation-wide.
  • When people mention NETS, what they actually means is paying from their ATM or debit cards.

If we increase the acceptance, would we increase the usage? When we say cashless community, do we consider credit and debit card as one? If that is, are we now living in a cashless world?

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