Digital wallets are projected to be the most popular payment method in Singapore according to findings in the 2024 Global Payments Report from Worldpay, leading payments technology and solutions company. By 2027, wallets are projected to account nearly S$34 trillion in global transaction value, or 49% of e-commerce and point-of-sale (POS) sales combined. Singapore is expected to account for S$89 billion across POS and e-commerce.

In Singapore, cards remained the dominant payment method by transaction value in e-commerce (42%) and POS (37%) in 2023. The increasing interoperability of regional payment systems and the success of the Singapore Quick Response Code (SGQR), the world’s first unified payment QR code, has led to a forecast of strong growth for digital wallets in Singapore. It is now projected the share of digital wallet use by transaction value will increase to 44% by 2027, the equivalent of S$14.8 billion. The report’s consumer survey found that Millennials were the largest cohort to use digital wallets (70%) compared to just 39% for Baby Boomers.

“Payment behaviours have changed, and consumers around the globe are demanding faster and more digitised payment options. In card-rich countries like Singapore, the digital wallet is a fast-growing way to facilitate credit card transactions and provide consumers with a streamlined payment experience that thrives on efficiency,” said Phil Pomford, General Manager, Global eCom, APAC, Worldpay. "Singapore's government has established an extremely robust infrastructure that has accelerated the use of digital wallets, and we expect to continue seeing investment by both private and public organisations in this space to broaden capabilities and partnerships - ultimately benefiting both merchants and consumers."

APAC consumers led the world in digital wallet use online in 2023, accounting for 70% of regional e-commerce transaction value. Wallets accounted for over US$2 trillion in e-commerce transaction value in 2023 for APAC, representing more than 64% of global online digital wallet spending.

Among the young and digitally savvy consumers, the Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) payment method continues to be favoured and is forecast to grow at a CAGR of 8% in Singapore from 2023 to 2027. In Singapore, 77% of GenZ survey respondents said they had used BNPL, which dropped to 47% for Millennials, 28% for Gen X and 13% for Baby Boomers.