Card use rises as contactless payments expand

GlobalData expects continued growth over the next five years.

Card-payments market is expected to continue expanding over the next five years, supported by increased merchant acceptance, digital-payment infrastructure and product innovation, according to GlobalData.

The market recorded strong growth over the preceding five years amid near-universal banking access, broad card-acceptance infrastructure and greater consumer use of electronic payments.

Contactless payments are increasingly becoming a standard feature of everyday commerce as more retailers and hawkers accept digital transactions.

Kartik Challa, senior banking and payments analyst at GlobalData, said government and industry initiatives, together with strong consumer awareness, were continuing to move transactions away from cash.

The growth of e-commerce and digital banking is also supporting demand for convenient payment options.

The expansion of contactless infrastructure has allowed businesses to accept payments through a wider range of devices. Apple introduced Tap to Pay on iPhone in Singapore in December 2025, enabling merchants to process contactless transactions without separate payment hardware.

The service supports Apple Pay as well as contactless debit and credit cards issued by major payment networks.

Credit and charge cards have a lower penetration rate than debit cards in Singapore but account for the largest share of card-payment value, according to GlobalData.

Banks’ cashback offers, merchant discounts and rewards programs have helped increase awareness and use of credit cards.

Debit-card adoption is also rising because of widespread ownership of savings and current accounts and broad access to basic banking services.

Digital banks, including Trust Bank, GXS Bank and MariBank, are contributing to this expansion through mobile-first accounts, physical and virtual debit cards, rewards and real-time transaction features.

Payment providers have also introduced microcredit cards, installment plans and other products designed to offer consumers more flexible payment options.

GlobalData said further improvements in banking access and payment infrastructure would broaden card use, although it did not provide a forecast growth rate or projected market value.

A NOTE FROM SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW

Reaching the people who run Asia's businesses is harder than it used to be.

Inboxes are crowded. Attention is short. The executives you most want to reach — the founders, CFOs, and operators who actually move budgets — are the hardest to find through the usual channels. If you're building a company, a category, or a reputation, you already know this.

We've spent twenty years building the room they read. Singapore Business Review is where senior decision makers in Singapore and across Southeast Asia come for business coverage they can't get elsewhere — in print, online, and in person at the summits and roundtables we host across seven markets.

If you have something these readers should know about — a point of view worth publishing, a product worth their attention, an event worth their time — we'd like to hear what you're trying to do.

Book a meeting

| Or download the media kit (PDF)

240,000 senior readers quarterly in print Top 1,700 Singapore companies reached

7 markets across Southeast Asia