Singapore Expats

Hello, I'm moving to Singapore later this month for a 2 year contract. Is it possible to live in Singapore without credit cards? I prefer debit card instead.

No problem living in Singapore without Credit Card.

therat wrote:No problem living in Singapore without Credit Card.

Until you want to make airplane reservations.

Strong Eagle wrote:

therat wrote:No problem living in Singapore without Credit Card.

Until you want to make airplane reservations.

How so.

I booked flights either to or from Singapore in April with Tiger, PAL, and Silkair, all done on a debit card.

Debit cards and even cash are fine. If you're making small purchases, some places don't even take plastic.

You might want to establish a PayPal account before arriving for online purchases such as airline tickets (SIA) and movie tickets.


Yes, you can get by without a credit card.

albay7776 wrote:Hello, I'm moving to Singapore later this month for a 2 year contract. Is it possible to live in Singapore without credit cards? I prefer debit card instead.

You can easily do this, but be aware it isn't as common as it is in the US. Make sure your bank gives you a Visa or MC branded debit card. OCBC and Citibank both will pretty painlessly, DBS/POSB wouldn't when I tried. Also be aware that the island has a network called "NETS", which is a shared by four local banks (DBS/POSB, UOB, OCBC, and someone else...) It's similar to a debit network, but only works with cards from those banks. A few places will only take NETS and Cash, not even Visa/MC. My child's doctor for example.

JR8 wrote:

Strong Eagle wrote:

therat wrote:No problem living in Singapore without Credit Card.

Until you want to make airplane reservations.

How so.

I booked flights either to or from Singapore in April with Tiger, PAL, and Silkair, all done on a debit card.

+1 - oh, and you can also get one of the pre-paid cards, 100% accepted online - Fevo, Maybank .. !!!!!!

ecureilx wrote: +1 - oh, and you can also get one of the pre-paid cards, 100% accepted online - Fevo, Maybank .. !!!!!!

No they're not. A merchant (or more appropriately, their payment processor) CAN tell if a card is pre-paid, and reject appropriately. PRe-paid cards are high-fraud, so any merchant that has fraud problems will be more likely to do this.

zzm9980 wrote:

ecureilx wrote: +1 - oh, and you can also get one of the pre-paid cards, 100% accepted online - Fevo, Maybank .. !!!!!!

No they're not. A merchant (or more appropriately, their payment processor) CAN tell if a card is pre-paid, and reject appropriately. PRe-paid cards are high-fraud, so any merchant that has fraud problems will be more likely to do this.

Oh, well, I have a Fevo Card, and never had any issues, on Paypal, Local Movies, Air Asia, Cebu Pacific, Tiger Airways, Amazon, Roku ..

I know it is not exhaustive, but, with Fevo - I had no issues .. it is 100% pre-paid !

JR8 wrote:

Strong Eagle wrote:

therat wrote:No problem living in Singapore without Credit Card.

Until you want to make airplane reservations.

How so.

I booked flights either to or from Singapore in April with Tiger, PAL, and Silkair, all done on a debit card.

I stand corrected.

I booked tickets to Bali last week via Jetstar and inspite of having credit card, I had to choose to make the payment via 7-11 because they were charging a fee to the tune of 18$ for credit card payment whereas via 7-11 it is free.

http://www.jetstar.com/sg/en/planning-a ... nt-methods

revhappy wrote:I booked tickets to Bali last week via Jetstar and inspite of having credit card, I had to choose to make the payment via 7-11 because they were charging a fee to the tune of 18$ for credit card payment whereas via 7-11 it is free.

http://www.jetstar.com/sg/en/planning-a ... nt-methods

You should try Ryanair in Eirope, as far as I recall there is no way to pay for a flight without incurring an additional charge, by any method of paying.

JR8 wrote:

revhappy wrote:I booked tickets to Bali last week via Jetstar and inspite of having credit card, I had to choose to make the payment via 7-11 because they were charging a fee to the tune of 18$ for credit card payment whereas via 7-11 it is free.

http://www.jetstar.com/sg/en/planning-a ... nt-methods

You should try Ryanair in Eirope, as far as I recall there is no way to pay for a flight without incurring an additional charge, by any method of paying.

The same airline who either want to charge passengers to use the lavatory or eliminate them for additional seats.

nakatago wrote: The same airline who either want to charge passengers to use the lavatory or eliminate them for additional seats.

Yes they are the ones that are experimenting with 6" wide half stand-up bench type seats, so they can get you into a pitch of 20".

Ryanair are notorious for cost cutting on frills. The irony is you might indeed get a flight for a headline £10, but once you've paid all the additional fees to be inside the plane lol, to be allowed to take any luggage, to use a toilet, to pay for all of this ... odds on you'd simply be better off booking through a decent airline.