Singapore payments to hit $114b by 2030

Singapore has one of the highest card penetration rates in Southeast Asia, at more than 95%. 

Card payments remain widely used for retail spending, business spending and online purchases. The market also includes FAST, PayNow, e-money wallets, stored-value cards such as EZ-Link, and digital payment tokens including Bitcoin, Ethereum and stablecoins.

FAST is Singapore’s main account-to-account transfer system and is used by PayNow. It is one of the fastest-growing payment systems in the country. 

Between 2020 and 2024, FAST recorded a compound annual growth rate of 35.8% in transaction value and 33.1% in transaction volume. 

Card payments grew by 17.2% in value and 12.9% in volume over the same period.

Cheque clearing has continued to decline. From 2020 to 2024, cheque-clearing value fell by 27.9%, whilst volume dropped by 5.1%. 

This reflects the move away from paper-based payments, especially as digital bank transfers become more common for both consumers and businesses.

Singapore’s payments sector is also attracting investment. Funding for payments companies reached more than $319m, or about S$410m, in the first nine months of 2025. 

This was higher than the combined payment-related fintech funding recorded in Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam during the same period. Payments accounted for 44% of Singapore’s total fintech funding in that period.

Cross-border payments are also expanding. PayNow is already linked with Thailand’s PromptPay and Malaysia’s DuitNow, allowing users to send money across borders more easily. 

Singapore is also expected to develop the Singapore Payments Network, known as SPaN, by 2026. The network is expected to bring together governance for major national payment systems, including FAST, GIRO, PayNow and SGQR.

Foreign exchange services are also changing. Traditional money-changing services are increasingly being replaced or supplemented by digital remittance and foreign exchange platforms.