Singapore – cash or card?

The answer might seem obvious – Singapore is a highly developed country, so surely you wouldn’t need any cash? However, we still found it useful to have some Singapore dollars on hand while visiting.

When might cash be useful?

• Most places (including all major stores) will accept card. However, some smaller places (particularly food stalls/hawker centres and some smaller stores) prefer or only accept cash, so it’s worth having currency on hand for this.

• We caught the MRT from the airport to central Singapore. To purchase an EZ-Link card at the airport MRT station (to use public transport) we needed cash.

How to get cash

We withdrew cash from ATMs once we’d arrived in Singapore. These are widely available, including at the airport, with a range of banks represented. Displays can be used in multiple languages.

There are also currency conversion bureaus available both in Singapore and overseas.

Using card

We used card for most transactions, and found this easy and stress-free. Tap and go is widely available. Check if your card provider charges any fees for international transactions before travelling – we’d recommend obtaining a card that doesn’t!