No PayNow, Only Cash: Kovan Drinks Stall's Cash-Only Policy Divides Netizens

A drinks stall at Kovan 209 Market & Food Centre has drawn attention online with its quirky signs telling customers that it accepts cash payments only.

The signs include phrases such as "No Now, No LAH, No CDC" and "Cash Only", with one telling customers: "Only Mr Yusof Bin Ishak"

When online news platform Stomp visited the stall and spoke to the owner, he said his 80-year-old mother runs the stall with him, does not know how to use PayNow and still uses an old phone.

The stall owner said customers still ask if they can make cashless payments despite the signs, and that he sometimes has to answer the same question "dozens of times a day"

He added that while handling cash can be troublesome, he finds it more reliable than contactless payments, which can be affected by system disruptions.

The drinks stall first caught attention online after TikTok user manistripping posted a video showing the various signs displayed at the stall, captioned: "Why uncle..."

While some hawker stalls continue to operate on a cash-only basis, e-payment adoption has grown in recent years.

In August 2024, 7.6 million e-payment transactions worth $60 million were recorded under the Hawkers Go Digital programme, up from 5.4 million transactions worth $45 million a year earlier.

Under the Hawkers Go Digital programme, it was also reported that more than 11,500 hawker stallholders were offering e-payment options as of October 2024.

The Government launched the Hawkers Go Digital in June 2020 specifically to accelerate e-payment adoption among hawkers and stallholders.

Initially, stallholders could receive an e-payment bonus of up to $1,500 for sustained usage - $300 per month for up to five months if they met the transaction requirement.

The Government also subsidised the merchant discount rate (MDR)