Singapore lags its Asia Pacific peers in mobile wallet usage

Only 28% of Singaporeans used mobile wallets in 2016.

Consumer use of a mobile wallet in Singapore has only reached 28% in 2016, the biennial Global Consumer Survey by ACI Worldwide revealed.

In 2012 and 2014, only 23% of consumers used mobile wallets, until the rate increased in 2016. However, this is still lower than most rates in Asia Pacific.

In 2016, India's mobile wallet usage hit 56%, whilst those of Thailand and Indonesia recorded 51% and 47%, respectively. Australia and New Zealand had lower usage at 18% and 15%.

According to ACI, Singapore has lower rates of adoption "primarily due to more mature card payments infrastructure and consumers’ general comfort utilizing plastic cards."

Perceptions of mobile wallet data security have also changed. In 2014, 29% of consumers felt secure with their mobile wallets. In 2016, this dropped to 19%.

Currently, 6 in 10 feel only somewhat secure with the data in their mobile wallets. Only 51% also believe security systems are in place.

"Consumer perceptions in Singapore may be impacted by a large migrant worker population and generally less online shopping compared to other regions," the report said.

Consequently, 65% said a fraud experience or data breach would cause them to stop shopping with the merchant or retailer that enabled that incident. This is also the average across all 20 countries surveyed.

However, more Singaporeans 36% still trust their firms with data. Around 33% do not, whilst 31% are unsure.

ACI commented, "A large minority of respondents across the region report they are unsure whether they trust firms to protect their data. Singapore is a surprising outlier, considering its strong regulations regarding data protection and governance. In general, consumers in Singapore do much less online shopping than do those in many other geographies due to the relatively small size of the country and the ease of access to brick-and-mortar stores."

In 2016, 46% said they trust their government with financial data, whilst 36% trust their financial institutions.

"In Singapore, the government’s efforts for strong data protection policies appear to have a real impact on consumer perception," ACI said.

In terms of fraud education, even though many institutions have some form of anti-fraud education and training, it does not always seem to resonate with consumers, the report said.

In Singapore, 45% did not recall receiving any information from their financial institutions about fraud. The number has risen in two years since in 2014, 46% agreed with this, whilst in 2012, only 39% did.

Still, Singaporeans prefer to be alerted to suspicious activity by their banks.

Around 75% of Singaporeans prefer that their banks do not respond to any transactions until they get an alert. This is the highest in Asia Pacific.

Consumers prefer to get an SMS when getting fraud alerts from the bank at 71%. This rate is also the highest in the region. A letter is the least preferred mode of communication at 19%.

Singaporeans are most concerned about computer hacking as a form of fraud at 28%. This was followed by the use of a credit card during a vacation at 16%.

Shopping is the least seen fraud risk at 2%.