SINGAPORE, June 20 (Xinhua) -- The Singaporean government will push forward the reducing of cash and cheque uses, and make the city-state a cheque-free society by 2025, said a minister of Singapore on Wednesday.
Ong Ye Kung, minister for education and a board member of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, said the aim of the Singaporean government is not to be a cashless society, but to use less cash and more e-payments, and aims to eliminate cheques.
He said the e-payment is far more convenient and efficient than cash and cheques, both in terms of people's everyday uses and business uses. "More than eight in 10 Singapore consumers have adopted e-payments and almost three in five Singapore merchants are accepting e-payments," Ong said.
According to the minister, Singapore has seen the use of cash and cheques coming down steadily for years. He said cash withdrawals at ATMs have been dropping by more than 300 million Singapore dollars (about 220.96 million U.S. dollars) every year, while the volume of cheque usage is also declining.
