NTUC FairPrice accepts purchases via Visa payWave card

SINGAPORE: Customers shopping at NTUC FairPrice outlets can now pay for purchases in a fast and simple way – with the Visa payWave card. 

NTUC Fairprice has finished installing the Visa payWave terminals across 116 outlets at the end of June this year. 

Singapore’s biggest retailer expects the use of such technology to grow among its clients. 

Meanwhile, Visa hopes that its market share for such contactless payments will increase by 10 per cent by the end of the year. 

Analysts said the new wave of technology is getting more competitive. 

Hot on the heels of supermarket chains are Cold Storage and Giant.

NTUC FairPrice is also going down the no-contact payment route, with its new Visa payWave terminals, where customers do not need any cash or sign off for their purchases.

Seah Kian Peng, CEO of FairPrice, said: “Everyday we see over half a million transactions, and out of this half a million, the number of people who pay by credit cards is almost 30 per cent. The trend can only increase. As for the acceleration, I think as we introduce more and more features and more and more convenience, like this payWave system, I think the uptake will be strong. 

“Manpower continues to be a problem. So with technological innovations, whether self check-out, in terms of processes like electronic shelf label or self weighing scales, this is all very useful and help mitigate our manpower shortage. With this payWave feature, we are able to process our queues that much faster, it allows the cashier shorter hours, and I think its makes their job that much easier. This also helps in terms of staff retention.

With Visa payWave, the cashier doesn’t need to swipe a card. A signature or PIN is also not required for purchases under S$100. 

And with the number of payWave transactions increasing 300 per cent since last year, Visa expects to see two million payWave cards in circulation by the end of 2013. 

But as the wave of contactless payment sweeps over Singapore, analysts said the competition will only get tougher. 

Merchants like Visa and MasterCard will have to contend with the likes of Nets FlashPay, a government driven initiative that is already available at 30,000 retail terminals islandwide. 

Nets Flash Pay is also accepted by all MRT/LRT, public buses, Comfort and CityCab taxis, ERP and car parks.

Edison Chen, Investment Analyst at DMG Partners Research, said: “Over the long run, we see that the market is not as closed as it was. Last time, Visa and Master charge a few percentage points over the transaction cost from the retailers, but now we have Nets charging a much smaller amount and we even see small IT companies like SilverLake Axis, they also want to venture into providing payment networks as well, and competing in terms of much lesser transaction cost. Venturing into other markets might be an option though, to fend off some competitors.” 

Peter Maher, Group Country Manager of Southeast Asia, VISA, said: “Within the ASEAN area, Singapore has a big lead in contact-less technology. So a lot of the stuff that we’re doing here, we’re going to emulate in Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. But they are still some ways away.

“Today, about 7 per cent of all  payment transactions are payWave in Singapore. And we expect that to hit 10 per cent by the end of the year. We expect beyond that it will continue to grow, We have five banks issuing 17 different card programmes and they have put up about 1.5 million payWave cards so far.”

Still, as people continue to seek convenience and time saving options, whether it’s a credit or debit card, analysts said this wave of no-contact payment is here to stay.

NTUC FairPrice accepts purchases via Visa payWave card