E Payment - Payment made Easier
by Vicky Ang Xin En, Qiang Jiayuan, Matthew Karuna Lim
09 Sep 2018
Have you ever had one of these relatable incidents in which you are paying for goods, have your hands filled with goods, is stumbling with your wallet, your phone, and is feeling terribly self-conscious with the stare of both the cashier and the customers behind you? Well, I certainly have. This is how E-payment services will help you!
What is E-payment?
Essentially, E-payment refers to the act of paying for goods, or returning debts(almost everything! It’s very flexible.) through the usage of online paying platforms. Through E-payment, you will no longer have to struggle with coins or notes. E-payment can also provide you with online receipts, if you are a cautious person when it comes to money.
How will E-payment benefit us?
Electronic payment will be convenient for the consumer, us. In most cases, we will only need to enter our account information once. The information will be stored in a database on the retailer’s web server and when when we return to the website, we only have to log in with our username and password. From there, completing a transaction will only need us to confirm our purchase and we’re done.
Disadvantages of E-payment
At this point, you may think: How great this E-payment is! Why don’t we use it in Singapore all the time? Well, the problem is that no online payment platform can be 100% safe. It may have the latest security technology software, but elsewhere there will be money-hungry people with excellent hacking knowledge who work round the clock to get your money and personal information. In addition, developing the software and the equipment for this technology service is costly, which every government may not be able to afford for the country.
E-payment in Singapore?
There are already some forms of E-payment in Singapore, like PayNow, which has been implemented since the end of 2017. However, most residents don’t actively advocate the use of these E-payments and many stick to the classic credit card or cash, not having been fully exposed to how to use E-payment services and the benefits of E-payment services. Not only that, but the recent SingHealth security breach has made many residents question about their online information safety and privacy.
Improvements?
As for E-payment, the main concern would be privacy and security to prevent information of the public to be leaked out into the wrong hands. With the security improved, the government can take steps to implement and promote E-payment in their countries to move toward saving more paper (from receipts) and giving their residents even more convenience in terms of payment.
This brings us to the end of this essay about E-payment. Thank you!
Hungry for more information on E-payment? Visit these links:
The official Singaporean government website covering content on beneficial outcomes of E-payments