SINGAPORE — Financial institutions are dangling carrots to encourage people to go cashless in an effort to promote safe distancing and minimise the community spread of Covid-19.

Starting next Monday (April 13), those who use PayNow to pay for purchases or make transfers can win mobile phones or cash prizes.

Individuals who complete a PayNow transaction of at least a dollar at merchants that accept the e-payment platform stand a chance to win S$100.

The Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS) said in a media release on Thursday that there will be 100 winners each week from April 13 to June 20.

The promotion is part of a wider campaign by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to urge all individuals and businesses to go digital and minimise visits to any financial institution.

UOB, meanwhile, will be giving away five Huawei P40 Pro mobile phone handsets that are worth S$1,398 each to five individual customers from April 15 to May 31.

Customers of the bank seeking to accumulate chances to win can do so by downloading the UOB Mighty app and making transfers or payments with PayNow, said UOB.

Small businesses, too, will likewise be rewarded if they sign up with PayNow. ABS said that the first 20,000 to sign up from April 9 to July 31 this year will receive a cash incentive of S$25.

Furthermore, they will also receive an incentive of up to S$50 if they receive more than 10 payments via PayNow during the same period.

“Safe distancing is a key strategy to minimise the community spread of Covid-19. Digital and contact-free payments help support this,” said ABS.

The MAS added that this will “contribute to the effectiveness of the elevated safe distancing measures” announced by the Ministry of Health last week.

From April 7 to May 4, most workplaces have to shut unless they deal with essential services, in order to arrest the spread of the coronavirus causing Covid-19.

Those who are able to do so have been told to work from home, and people are to stop socialising and to interact face-to-face only with people from their own household.

While financial services are considered essential, the MAS said that it expects financial institutions to provide as many basic financial services through digital channels that do not require a customer to be present physically.

Highlighting efforts made in the financial sector, the central bank pointed that many retail banks, insurance companies and brokers offer internet or mobile channels for customers to access a range of financial services.

The MAS said that financial institutions have also been offering their customers other non-face-to-face transaction options, such as video or tele-conferencing, where possible, to perform customer verification.

Still, the MAS said it will work closely with ABS to promote greater adoption of e-payments options such as PayNow through campaigns in the coming months.

According to the MAS, to date, there are more than two million registered PayNow users, and over 120,000 businesses have adopted PayNow Corporate and SGQR as a low cost, infrastructure-light e-payment solutions.

There are currently nine banks which offer PayNow: Bank of China, Citibank, DBS Bank/POSB, HSBC, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Maybank, OCBC Bank, Standard Chartered Bank and UOB.

“Given the unprecedented times we are in, PayNow is a good option for consumers and businesses… it enables users to make transfers on their mobile phones without coming into contact with another person,” said ABS.