Last year, my husband and I flew from Singapore to New York in business class with Singapore Airlines for the first time.
Some of our friends assumed that we shelled out a bomb for it, but the truth is we paid nothing (apart from about S$100 for airport taxes). And it is all thanks to our credit cards.
In today’s cashless world, credit cards are probably one of the best financial tools to give us the most bang for our buck – if we learn how to use them right – and Singaporeans are catching on to this.
In a 2023 survey by GlobalData, more than 70 per cent of Singapore respondents reported using a contactless card for their payments. In this group, credit and charge cards accounted for 65.6 per cent of the overall card payment value for the year. Debit cards made up the remaining 34.4 per cent.
There still seems to be a good deal of fear towards credit cards, especially given recent news about rising credit card debt in Singapore, where credit card rollover balances hit a record high of S$7.9 billion in the third quarter of 2024, the Monetary Authority of Singapore said. Even so, only a small minority of Singaporeans default on their credit card payments, it reported.
The authority’s Jan 9 notice on its website about curbing credit card debt is a salient reminder to all of us that we should not be living on borrowed money, especially as more Singaporeans grow comfortable with rising debt levels partly thanks to the advent of “buy now, pay later”.
To be safe, some may abstain from credit cards altogether or avoid using one even if they have it.
Now, there’s nothing wrong with this, but I can’t help but wonder if those who choose to go without these cards know just how much they are missing.
