Singapore aims to become cashless society: BCCS

Singapore aims to become cashless society: BCCS

SINGAPORE (AFP): Singapore has begun exploratory work on
becoming the world's first cashless society, with handheld
devices such as mobile phones replacing notes and coins possibly
within eight years.

The benchmark date for ending the days of wallets bulging with
small coins, and hunting for suitable-sized notes to pay for
goods and taxi fares, is 2008.

But the Board of Commissioners of Currency Singapore (BCCS),
the statutory board which controls currency issues in the island-
state, said the timing was flexible.

The goal is to eventually phase out the use of notes and
coins, but this will only proceed at a pace that Singaporeans are
comfortable with, Low Siang Kok, director of currency at BCCS,
told AFP Tuesday.

"Public acceptance is an important criteria. We will allow the
public to dictate the pace of change," he said.

In the age of electronic legal tender, cash as a means of
payment will be replaced by devices such as mobile phones and
personal digital assistants embedded with smart chips.

The system would not affect continued use of existing cash-
free technology such as credit and debit cards, and other smart-
card systems of payment.

With research still in its infancy, Low could not determine
the cost of installing an electronic legal tender system across
the island.

"We are now at a conceptual stage from a feasibility point of
view to justify the project of this nature," Low said.

"No countries have implemented it yet," he said, adding that
the United States, Canada, Japan and Australia have also looked
at similar systems but faced considerable hurdles due to the size
of their countries.

"It's anybody's guess at this point as to how much it will
cost. Nothing affirmative can be provided," he said.

Low said public surveys would be carried out to gauge
Singaporeans' acceptance of an electronic legal tender system.

"Surveys will certainly be in place to see if people are
comfortable in general to use legal tender in an electronic
form," he said.

Extensive education to raise public awareness of the merits of
cash-free living would probably be introduced if the majority
showed reluctance to accept the system.

One benefit of an electronic legal tender system will be the
elimination of the cost of handling notes and coins for
transactions.

"The physical cash we are handling now is becoming too
expensive to handle," Low said.

"We are trying to replicate cash in the electronic form."