Phones Overtake Cards as Singapore’s Favorite Checkout Tool

Singapore is among the nations most visibly moving toward mobile-first shopping.

In the “2025 Global Digital Shopping Index: Singapore Edition,” released by PYMNTS Intelligence and commissioned by Visa Acceptance Solutions, a survey of 1,510 consumers and 425 merchants in Singapore, underscores the reality that smartphones are not just tools for online purchases.

They’re integral to the entire shopping journey, including in-store experiences.

The island nation stands near the top globally among the nations surveyed, with a striking 65% of all retail transactions — whether online or in-store — now conducted using mobile devices.

This latest reading represents an eye-popping 42% increase since 2022. While the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia slightly edge out Singapore in overall mobile device usage for purchases, Singapore still ranks second for online mobile shopping at 35% and third for in-store mobile shopping at 30%.

Mobile devices now overwhelmingly dominate computers across all digital shopping activities, from browsing and “window shopping” — which occurs 14 days a month on mobile versus 8 days on computers — to remote purchases and digitally assisted in-store visits.

This mobile-first surge is not confined to a single demographic, demonstrating its universality across all age groups and income brackets in Singapore. However, it is the younger generations who are spearheading this transformation. Millennials lead the charge, with 71% using a mobile device for their latest retail purchase, closely followed by bridge millennials and Generation Z, both at 70%. Even older demographics, like baby boomers (61%) and Generation X (60%), show remarkably high mobile shopping adoption rates compared to their counterparts in other global markets.

This widespread embrace means merchants must be aware of and cater to natives’ expectations of commerce.

These mobile-savvy consumers demand smooth and secure payment and checkout experiences. A substantial 68% of Singaporean shoppers indicate that the availability of their preferred payment method significantly influences their choice of where to shop, with 41% stating it is “highly influential” — the highest rate observed in the global study. For online transactions, credit cards, debit cards and digital wallets are the top preferences.

When it comes to checkout, 32% of Singaporean shoppers utilized a third-party, one-click checkout option for their most recent online purchase, nearly double the global average. Furthermore, biometric authentication methods, such as fingerprint or facial recognition, were used by 35% of Singaporean consumers for their latest online purchase, making it the highest adoption rate among all surveyed countries, and almost twice the global average. Merchants must also address key consumer concerns about storing payment credentials, primarily data security (cited by 61%), to foster trust.

There’s evidence that merchants are up to the challenge of mobile-first commerce. Singaporean merchants are leading the world in offering cross-channel shopping experiences, which connect payment transactions across various platforms and devices. More than 8 in 10 (82%) already provide this functionality, and a significant 55% are keen to innovate further.

Communication is key. While 52% of consumers either used or desired cross-channel features, a notable 28% reported that they would have used such features but were unaware of their availability, highlighting an opportunity for merchants to better communicate their existing capabilities.

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