One of the obstacles for hawkers in going cashless is the cost involved (Eight options to e-pay but cash still king at food centre, and Hurdles remain in cashless move; both published on Jan 27).

Stallholders likely need to pay rental for Nets machines and subscription fees for phone lines to run the machines, not to mention the surcharge imposed by Nets.

Such costs would eventually be passed on to the consumers.

Moreover, if the Nets machines break down, cash would have to be used for transactions again.

The use of quick response, or QR, codes as a mode of payment is the way to go.

With QR codes, no Nets or card terminal is needed. The set-up cost is expected to be low.

In addition, hawkers can expect the money to be credited into their accounts quickly.

Hawkers should be urged to adopt the QR code payment system.

Annie Ng Lee Hoon (Ms)