There is burgeoning growth in next-generation payment methods, such as stored value, in Singapore. The aggregate amount of e-money transactions has now exceeded total withdrawals from ATMs.

Singapore has matured into an Asian financial center on par with the likes of traditional financial powerhouses such as Hong Kong. In a new report, Payments Trends in Singapore: Ticket to E-Money Paradise?, Celent offers an in-depth analysis of the newest trends in Singapore’s payments market, evaluating prospects for future developments.

In January 2009, Singapore adopted a new standard, CEPAS (Contactless e-Purse Application), which was formulated at the behest of the government to replace Sony’s FeliCa technology. This shift to CEPAS has changed the landscape of the payments market and helped to spur an increase in the scope and use of e-money within Singapore.

“Some observers see Singapore’s retail payments market as saturated,” says KyongSun Kong, an Analyst with Celent’s Asian Financial Services Group and coauthor of the report. “But the increasing use of e-money and the advent of next-generation e-payment methods, such as contactless mobile payments, will continue to drive growth in this market.”

This report examines current trends in Singapore’s payments market, analyzes transaction volumes in the payments space, and identifies rapidly growing payment types as well as those expected to grow in the future. The report also details how this island nation has been a pioneer in the area of electronic payments.