Within Asean, Singapore experienced a 15% growth in card billings y-o-y. This was driven by a whopping 23% y-o-y growth in card billings for dining and 21% y-o-y growth in card billings for e-commerce. Travel also experienced a 17% y-o-y growth in card billings.
The top travel destinations by foreign currency spend in FY2024 were Europe, Japan, US, Singapore, Malaysia and UK.
UOB also noted that there were differences in Asean consumer spending on credit and debit cards.
According to the Mastercard cross-border card present data 1H2024, the top categories for credit card spending were hotels and lodgings, apparel, bars and restaurants, department stores, watches and jewellery and duty-free shops.
See also: RHB Bank aims high despite headwinds
On the other hand, the top categories for debit card spending were apparel, bars and restaurants, hotels and lodgings, department stores and grocery stores.
UOB’s Singapore customer base also spent more on accommodation and shopping as compared to the market.
UOB’s Singapore customer base had a spend share of 29% on accommodation and 19% on apparel, as compared to the market spend share of 24% and 16%, respectively.
See also: Fujian-based bank touts Wall Street internship for 10 mil yuan deposit
UOB also noted an increase in bookings via online travel agencies, although direct bookings are still preferred.
In Singapore, there was a 43% y-o-y increase for flights and hotel bookings via online travel agencies and a 16% y-o-y increase for direct bookings.
UOB found that credit and debit cards were the top preferred overseas payment method, with 57% of Singaporeans preferring using credit and debit cards overseas, as compared to 46% who used cash.
This is reflected in the 17% y-o-y growth in cross-border credit and debit card billings as of Aug 2024.
UOB also highlighted the differences in card preferences among Singapore customers.
More than half of Gen Z customers (55%) used debit cards overseas, as compared to less than 20% for the remaining age groups.
The average overseas billing on credit cards were about two times more than billings on debit cards. On average, females also spend about 20% less than male customers when overseas.
