Singapore forms office to push digital adoption for small merchants

It plans to encourage hawkers to adopt SGQR payments in June.

The Singapore government is forming the SG Digital Office (SDO) under the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) aiming to further digital adoption for small merchants, according to a press release.

Under this, SDO is recruiting 1,000 digital ambassadors by June. Comprising both full-time staff and volunteers, they will work with companies, community groups and the public to engage these target groups over the next few years.

The office will cover all 112 hawker centres and wet markets in June to encourage stallholders to adopt SGQR codes for e-payment. This will be ramped up further from July, to include coffee shops and industrial canteens. The aim is to engage 18,000 stallholders by June 2021.

Further, IMDA, National Environment Agency, Jurong Town Corporation, Housing Development Board and Enterprise Singapore will offer a bonus of $213.14 (S$300) per month over five months to encourage more stallholders at hawker centres, wet markets, coffee shops, and industrial canteens to use e-payments and avoid having to handle cash.

The Digital Ambassadors will also reach out to and raise the digital skills of 100,000 seniors by March 2021, from the previous annual target of 10,000 seniors reached through one-to-one skilling efforts. Seniors from lower-income households who wish to learn but are unable to afford the devices will be given financial support.

According to the Minister for Communications and Information S Iswaran, this was in response to a necessity for people to connect digitally due to social distancing measures, noting that this has not been accessible for some of the elderly and vulnerable sectors.