The Government's push over the last few years towards adopting e-payments has seen encouraging results among the public.

However, the same cannot be said for the business community, especially among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

As a small business owner in the food and beverage industry, I still use cash as the main mode of payment to my suppliers, even though I would very much prefer e-payment.

There are costs to consider when using e-payment. For example, PayNow is free for individuals to use, but my bank charges me a 50-cent fee for every transaction made via corporate PayNow or bank transfer.

Small businesses like mine are not able to buy in bulk due to space constraints. So I end up having to make a number of purchases from different suppliers regularly. The accumulated e-payment charges for these purchases can be quite substantial.

But this problem could be easily resolved, if suppliers to small businesses could grant some form of credit line to us.

We could then make bulk payments according to the credit terms. This would reduce the frequency of making e-payments, which would in turn reduce the bank charges incurred.

But many suppliers are unwilling to grant credit to small businesses, preferring to collect cash on delivery instead.

If payment is to be made electronically, some suppliers insist on payment in advance of delivery along with proof of payment. This makes e-payment a cumbersome and costly mode of payment, and cash still remains the main medium for payments.

To make e-payment mainstream among SMEs, the whole ecosystem, from suppliers to banks, must work together.

Tan Yong Sang