Catherine Cargill
As travel restrictions finally ease, many are booking flights to destinations such as the tech-forward Singapore. Here's how to visit Singapore's top sights without having to shell out a single physical coin.
On a recent visit to Singapore, both my husband and I were able to go sightseeing around Singapore without any cash. We used Apple Pay to do things like buy hawker street food and ride the Mass Rapid Transport (MRT) system.
The benefits of cashless travel are numerous, such as removing the worries of pickpocketing or losing your wad of cash. As a bonus, you can skip shady currency exchange places.
Prepare before your trip
Before your flight to Singapore, make sure to load your Apple Wallet with the cards you want to use.
Singapore's MRT, accepts cards including MasterCard or Visa credit and debit cards and NETS contactless ATM cards. Check Singapore's Land Transport Authority SimplyGo for the latest accepted card payment list.
If you choose to purchase a rechargeable EZ-Link card to ride the MRT, add this to your Apple Wallet before your trip.
You could use any of the above cards for contactless payments by tapping the card at the train station, but loading them up on your Apple Wallet before your trip will save you from having to carry a physical card around town.
Before using Apple Pay abroad, confirm with your bank about any possible fees they may charge.
If possible, when adding a card to your Apple wallet or Apple Pay, use a card with zero foreign transaction fees. It's even better if this is a card that gives you extra points for travel and food transactions, as well as offering travel insurance.
Apple Pay for transportation
Singapore's MRT system is built to handle cashless payments with the tap of a card. However, having your card preloaded onto your Apple Watch or iPhone makes it easier as it's one less thing to worry about.
Before entering the train platform, simply scan your Apple Watch or iPhone with Apple Wallet enabled. Once the card payment has been verified, you can go right through.
Besides the MRT, a popular way to get around Singapore is by Grab or Gojek, on-demand taxi services much like Uber or Lyft in the States.
To use this transportation option, simply enter your card information into the Grab or Gojek app. Your card will be deducted for the cost of the taxi ride, and once again you can do all of this without using any physical cash.
Apple Pay for top attractions
Many top attractions in Singapore accept Apple Pay. Before visiting, research the specific landmarks you want to visit and look for their accepted payments.
Here is a list from Apple of the current participating banks and card issuers in Singapore.
- American Express (Bank-issued American Express cards aren't supported.)
- Citibank (Mastercard and Visa credit cards, Mastercard debit cards)
- DBS (Mastercard and Visa credit and debit cards)
- HSBC (Mastercard and Visa credit cards, Visa debit cards)
- Maybank (Mastercard and Visa credit and debit cards)
- OCBC (Mastercard and Visa credit and debit cards)
- POSB (Mastercard credit and debit cards)
- Singtel (Visa Prepaid Card)
- Standard Chartered Bank (Mastercard credit and debit cards, Visa credit cards)
- United Overseas Bank (Mastercard and Visa credit and debit cards)
- Wise
Apple Pay for Singapore street food
Visitors will be pleasantly surprised to find that even modest food vendors accept Apple Pay. For example, we used an Apple Watch to buy curry, naan, claypot rice, and iced Milo from three different vendors at the Marina Bay Sands food court.
You can use Apple Pay at places like BreadTalk, a popular bakery chain, or Uniqlo, a favorite clothing brand. When ordering at a food court, each stall will have its own payment options, so double-check before ordering.
Using Apple Pay in Singapore
At the cashier, look for the Apple Pay logo on the card terminal, or simply ask the vendor if they accept Apple Pay. These vendors are comfortable with tourists and are happy to confirm payment options.
This was our experience in Singapore, but your mileage may vary in other countries.
We loved using Apple Pay while exploring Singapore's top sights. We didn't have to hunt down currency exchange stalls or fumble with foreign currency, and we highly recommend going cashless when in Singapore.
Andrew Orr
Amber Neely
William Gallagher
Christine McKee
AppleInsider Staff
10 Comments
How is this a story? As a UK resident it makes me laugh. I’ve used ApplePay for years and since lockdown it’s the only way I pay for everything (including in Europe). Odd that the US is so backwards on this…
I’ve always enjoyed my visits to Singapore and found it to be much more tech friendly and advanced than most cities in the US. Things like individual parking space tracking in parking garages were in widespread use in SGP at least a decade before they started appearing in the US. I attribute some of this to their limited population, limited space, focus on economic growth, business friendly government, and relative youthfulness as a country and as a population.
It is amazing how backward the US is in this regard. It is also surprising due to the amount of credit card fraud here.
My best guess is that the banks and the vendors do not want to spend the money on upgrading. Interestingly it is often the smaller businesses that have embraced technology faster using devices like Square since they provide a seamless process for payments.
About 4-5 years ago we finally got chips in credit cards. It took a while before vendors had consoles that could recognize them. Now most places can do contactless payments with a card in hand. Availability of payment via Apple Pay has improved significantly but it can be a bit kludgy sometimes. It is definitely easier to use it in Europe.
Having lived now in the States for over 30 years (previously from the UK) I would have to say that the reason for slow change is that the country is so huge. For organizations that are nationwide, making changes is hard as rolling out new systems is a lot of work. Also because of the size of the country, each region has its own way of doing things. Consider how diverse Europe is in its way of doing things in general. The US is the same size as Europe and in many ways is as diverse as Europe in how the various regions operate. Sure the language is the same but Californians live and think very differently from someone on the East Coast.
Thanks for the write up. Off the Singapore soon so great to know Apple Pay is widely accepted.
Been to the US a few times now I don’t understand why the swipe and pin technology is still in use. Mind you they’re still using feet and inches. 😂