What is the most popular payment method in Singapore?
It depends on the channel. Cards lead e-commerce, with an estimated 73% of online transactions in 2026 according to an IDC study quoted by 2C2P. In person and between people, PayNow dominates, with S$301 billion of consumer and business payments in 2025.
In detail
It depends on the channel. Cards lead e-commerce, with an estimated 73% of online transactions in 2026 according to an IDC study quoted by 2C2P. In person and between people, PayNow dominates, with S$301 billion of consumer and business payments in 2025.
Payment by card in Singapore
Cards still lead online and in many stores. UOB’s 2025 ASEAN Consumer Sentiment Study found that 52% of Singaporeans use physical credit cards, the highest rate in the region. Online, cards remain the default: a 2026 IDC study for 2C2P estimates that cards account for 73% of e-commerce transactions. At the counter, NETS, the domestic debit and QR network owned by the three largest local banks, sits next to Visa, Mastercard, Apple Pay and Google Pay.
Payment by bank transfer in Singapore
Account-to-account payments are where Singapore stands out. PayNow lets people and companies send money with a mobile number, NRIC/FIN or business UEN, on top of the FAST instant payment system. It carried S$154 billion of consumer payments and S$147 billion of business payments in 2025, and the PayNow Generation 2 report puts digital wallets and account-to-account payments at about 48% of retail consumer-to-business value. Merchants display a single SGQR or SGQR+ code that accepts PayNow, NETS QR, GrabPay, ShopeePay and bank wallets.
More detail in our #PayWorldTour guide Payment methods in Singapore.