Singapore becomes test bed for Citi Pay ewallet

MarketandResearch pegged the growth of the Singaporean payment cards market at CAGR of 3.3% during the period 2012 -2014, and projects it to grow at a CAGR of 2.7% over the period 2015 – 2020. In Singapore, debit cards dominate the payment card market in terms of number of cards in circulation. In 2014, the debit cards accounted for 53% of the total number of cards in circulation in Singapore.

This growth however is due for a change as Worldpay predicts credit card usage in the city-state to decline over the next few years falling by over 10% of market share to 69%, as alternative payment methods become more established. One alternative payment platform expected to grab share of the growing e-commerce business opportunity which a joint-report by Temasek and Google predicts to reach US$5.4 billion by 2025.

Consumers prefer to use credit cards to make payments at POS terminals for retail purchases. The MarketandResearch report “Singapore Cards and Payments Market – Growth and Forecast to 2020” estimate the value of transactions at POS terminals accounted for 95.7% of total credit card transactions in Singapore.

Entering the already crowded ewallet marketplace is Citi with the official launch of Citi Pay, a digital wallet developed by the bank. It says Singapore is the first country in the world to have Citi customers have access to its new ewallet facilities. Citi customers can use their Android mobile device to tap any Near Field Communication (NFC)-enabled point-of-sale terminal.

According to the KPMG Report “Singapore Payments Roadmap – Enabling the future of payments 2020 and beyond”, 51% of payment cards used by consumers in Singapore are now contactless. In addition, data supplied by the Infocomm Media Development Authority suggests that the total number of mobile subscriptions for 4G has increased by close to 500% from 2013 – an increase that has facilitated the move to mobile payments by consumers in the country.

The bank claims onboarding process for Citi Pay is seamless and very easy. Customers will be able to use the same Citibank online user ID and password that they currently use to manage their existing online relationship with the bank to log in to Citi Pay, which will automatically populate their card details.

Australia and Mexico are expected to have Citi Pay available before end of 2016. Additional markets to follow in 2017.