1. Rise of the Mobile Wallets l Apple Pay
Monitoring Period : April 1 – 30
(cut-off time: April 30, 11.59 pm)
All data reflected in this report are based on sampling content from 6,450
channels in Singapore
2. THE RISE OF MOBILE WALLET APPS
2
When it comes to digital or electronic payments, Singaporean consumers
are well ahead of the curve as compared to most of its Asia counterparts.
In 2012, the first form of mobile wallets apps, utilising Near Field
Communication Technology (NFC), was released by the three local telcos.
In just over a month, the apps amassed thousands of downloads. While
the initiative did not fully take off back then, the initial uptake did
highlight consumers’ receptiveness to such cashless modes of digital
payment.
In recent years, as part of the banks’ strategy to tap onto the growing trend of mobile commerce by innovating within the
landscape of cashless payment, they too started introducing their own versions of mobile wallet apps such as DBS PayLah!,
OCBC Pay Anyone and Standard Chartered Dash. Competition has been tremendously fierce amongst the existing banks,
many whom have adopted various strategies of increasing digital wallet adoption through an array of promotional and
activation events.
The launch of Apple Pay in Singapore on April 19 and impending arrival of Samsung Pay in June 2016 will see more players
joining the fray and further heating up the competition within the digital wallet landscape. With Apple and Samsung
smartphones dominating the market share of smartphone users within Singapore, what will be the possible implications on
existing banking mobile wallet apps?
3. BANKING WALLET APPS – 2015 OUTLOOK
3
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
Q1 2015 Q2 2015 Q3 2015 Q4 2015
DBS OCBC StanChart UOB
• Over the past year, DBS Paylah! has consistently achieved the highest buzz and traction as compared to other banking mobile wallet
apps. Q2 and Q3 in particular, experienced buzz peaks due to initiatives such as the Apple Watch, #PayLahMoments and PayLah!
SGWave contests [1][2]. However, a spike in negative mentions was observed in Q3 due to its SGWave system downtime issues.
• StanChart’s Dash has also been a contender in gathering some traction due to it’s $50 cashback promotion in Q3 2015 [1]
• UOB saw no traction in this category until the launch of UOB Mighty in Q4 2015 [1]
81.4%
2.2%
14.3%
2.1% DBS
OCBC
Standard Chartered
UOB
Share of Voice
Buzz Breakdown (Quarter By Quarter)
Sentiment Outlook
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
DBS
OCBC
StanChart
UOB
Very Negative Negative Neutral Positive Very Positive
4. BANKING WALLET APPS – 2015 OUTLOOK
4
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
900
1000
DBS OCBC StanChart UOB
Brand Generated User Generated
MOBILE WALLET RATIO
DBS 1: 4.3
UOB 1: 1.7
STANDARD
CHARTERED
1: 1.2
OCBC 1: 0.7
Brand Generated VS User Generated Content
DBS Paylah! is ahead of its competitors in terms of having the highest
proportion of organic traction – generating 4.3 user-generated
content for every 1 brand-generated article.
37.5%
26.5%
16.8%
10.4%
5.2%
3.4% 0.2%
Twitter
Facebook
Forum
Blog
Youtube
News
Magazine
Channel Breakdown
Twitter is most commonly used by netizens for retweets of
promotions or posting of complaints. DBS is also the most
active in addressing netizens’ queries on the platform as
compared to competitors.
Facebook is the next most popular medium used for sharing
and enquiring about any product updates and
promotions/contests. DBS Singapore Facebook Page
constitutes about 52% of the platform buzz alone, indicating
the bank’s activeness in posting regular content and
generating conversations surrounding its digital wallet.
5. Cashless Industry Outlook
MOBILE WALLETS VS CREDIT/DEBIT CARDS
5
0
500
1000
1500
2000 Jan-15
Feb-15
Mar-15
Apr-15
May-15
Jun-15
Jul-15
Aug-15
Sep-15
Oct-15
Nov-15
Dec-15
Credit & Debit Cards Mobile Wallet Apps
Despite a consistently lower
consumer uptake on mobile wallet
apps as compared to credit/debit
cards, one can observe that the
monthly % growth in buzz volume for
mobile wallet apps have experienced
some major leaps over the past year –
indicating a possible growing interest
in the trend of utilizing digital wallets.
MONTH CREDIT/ DEBIT CARDS % CHANGE MOBILE WALLET % CHANGE
Jan-15 1709 0% 18 0
Feb-15 576 -66% 35 94%
Mar-15 580 1% 44 26%
Apr-15 662 14% 11 -75%
May-15 625 -6% 64 482%
Jun-15 1285 106% 207 223%
Jul-15 1720 34% 109 -47%
Aug-15 1089 -37% 182 67%
Sep-15 1394 28% 69 -62%
Oct-15 1229 -12% 45 -35%
Nov-15 1242 1% 41 -9%
Dec-15 1450 17% 63 54%
-200%
0%
200%
400%
600%
Jan-15
Feb-15
Mar-15
Apr-15
May-15
Jun-15
Jul-15
Aug-15
Sep-15
Oct-15
Nov-15
Dec-15
Credit & Debit Cards Mobile Wallet Apps
BUZZ TREND % BUZZ GROWTH
6. Comparative Analysis of Banking Mobile Wallet Apps VS Apple Pay
FAST FORWARDING TO APRIL 2016
6
1347
32
2
21
45
0 500 1000 1500
Apple Pay
DBS Paylah!
OCBC Pay Anyone
Standard Chartered Dash
UOB Mighty
Buzz Comparison (1-30 April 2016)
In April 2016, the proportion of organic chatter generated for
Apple Pay has outstripped DBS Paylah! – the highest performer
in this area amongst the banking mobile wallet apps since 2015.
This indicates a high level of excitement or interest over this
digital wallet.
186
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Brand Generated User Generated
MONITORING
PERIOD
MOBILE WALLET RATIO
APR 2016
(1 MONTH)
Apple Pay 1: 8.1
JAN –DEC 2015
(12 MONTHS)
DBS PayLah! 1: 4.3
Apple Pay takes the lead in
terms of overall buzz in the
month of April.
2X organic
chatter as
compared to
DBS PayLah!
Brand Generated VS User Generated
With Apple Pay’s launch in April 2016, let’s take a look at how it has
measured up against the existing banking mobile wallets in Singapore.
7. Trend Analysis – 1-30 April 2016
APPLE PAY
7
0
200
400
600
800
1-Apr 8-Apr 15-Apr 22-Apr 29-Apr
Average Buzz (1-18 April) = 5
Average Buzz (20-30 April) = 57
A similar trend observation can be observed for both the online chatter (social buzz) and Google trends (web searches).
April 19 saw a buzz peak and spike in google searches due to the official announcement with regards to the launch of
Apple Pay, before tapering off by the next time.
Social Buzz Trend
Google Trends
Apr 19 (696 Buzz)
Apr 19 (100 Searches)
Prior to its official launch, there was a low but consistent stream of news
and online conversations about the mobile wallet – indicating a build up of
interest. Some netizens kept track of the launch of the digital wallet in
other countries and showed excitement over its impending launch.
After the official launch, a consistent level of conversations (Average Buzz=
57 from 20-30 April) was maintained as netizens continue to discuss about
the product features, mechanics and usage.
8. Top Channels – 1-30 April 2016
APPLE PAY
8
518
421
147
28
19
15
9
9
8
7
0 500 1000
Twitter - Singapore
SG Links Blog
HardwareZone Forum - The iPhone Chat…
HardwareZone Forum - Eat-Drink-Man-…
HardwareZone Forum - Credit Cards &…
The Straits Times Facebook Page
Reddit Singapore
ChannelNewsAsia
American Express Facebook Page
Yahoo! Finance Singapore Facebook Page
Top Channels Channels Breakdown
38.5%
34.1%
17.0%
6.8%
3.5% 0.1%
MICROBLOG
BLOG
FORUM
SOCIAL_NETWORKING_SITE
NEWS
MAGAZINE
Twitter
Sharing of news and comments about the launch of Apple Pay in
Singapore.
SG Links Blog
Primarily driven by netizens retweeting the news of Apple Pay
launch in Singapore from this blog.
HardwareZone Forum
In-depth discussion with regards to the mechanics and features
of Apple Pay
9. Key Conversations
APPLE PAY
9
• News with regards to Apple Pay expanding to Singapore with support for American Express-issued credit cards sparked off several
retweets and sharing amongst netizens (364 Buzz) - indicating their excitement and consideration over the launch digital wallet. [1]
• Some netizens expressed positive comments with regards to the speed and convenience of utilising Apple Pay
• Many netizens actively discussed about the mechanics of Apple Pay - the banks, type of credit cards or payment terminals that
supported the digital wallet and limitations encountered –primarily the $100 limit and the lack of a more comprehensive
coverage of bank cards for the time being . A forum thread with regards to this have gathered about 360 comments to date [1].
10. Key Conversations
APPLE PAY
10
• Some conversations surrounding the security of Apple Pay were observed as well. [1][2]
• Some netizens complained about the lack of infrastructural support for Apple Pay at various places in Singapore. [1][2]
11. Monitoring Range – 1-30 April 2016
THE CONSUMER UPTAKE OF APPLE PAY
11
Despite the mass media coverage and consumer hype, some key experts have expressed skepticism at its take-up rate [1][2]- namely due
to the current lack of coverage by bank cards and that consumers will need some time ‘to warm up to this new payment service’.
HOW HAS THE CONSUMER UPTAKE OF APPLE PAY TRENDED BASED ON ONLINE CONVERSATIONS?
* Based on a random sample of 150 posts or comments by netizens
28%
30%
19%
23% AWARENESS = indicates some form of awareness or knowledge about the product’s existence or presence
FAMILIARITY = indicates some knowledge about the product and related features
CONSIDERATION = indicates an interest to use the product
USAGE = indicates actual product usage
Bulk of the conversations are focused on the ‘Familiarity’ and ‘Awareness’ stage – indicating that most
consumers are aware of the product and have started familiarizing themselves with its features and
mechanics. 23% of the consumers have indicated actual product usage, which was slightly higher than
the “Consideration” stage – possibly indicating that most consumers bypass the consideration phase to
proceed to test out the product since it doesn’t require much investment on their end.
12. 19.49%
3.99%
7.46%
2.65% 1.96% 2.81%
0.99% 0.98%
Monitoring Range – 1-30 April 2016
AFFILIATIONS WITH APPLE PAY
12
American Express (Amex gathered the highest affiliation over the course of
April – evidence by the fact that most of the media coverage has
emphasized that Apple Pay is supported by Amex in Singapore, with
Mastercard, Visa, DBS, POSB, UOB and Standard Chartered soon to be
rolled out.
Interestingly, despite no official confirmation with regards to Citibank and
OCBC’s participation, some level of traction is still observed as netizens
enquired whether or not if Apple Pay will also be supported by them.
From Apple’s website
