Equipping seniors with digital skills to go cashless

With more merchants accepting electronic payments in line with Singapore’s cashless drive, there is no doubt that there is an increasing trend to use smartphones for e-transactions in our daily lives.

 

To enable more seniors to keep up with the latest technological trends, National Silver Academy (NSA) organised a virtual “Mobile e-Payment” course on 30 September 2020 for 18 seniors from two Senior Activity Centres (SACs) under the care of Methodist Welfare Services (MWS). The course was made possible through the sponsorship of POSB for the out-of-pocket course fees.

 

As the course was conducted online via Zoom, it allowed seniors from both Senior Activity Centres - Teck Ghee Vista and MWS Senior Activity Centre - Kebun Baru to participate concurrently in the online course.

 

The funds transfer service, PayNow, and mobile payment applications such as POSB DigiBank and DBS PayLah! were covered during the 1.5-hour session which was conducted by RSVP Singapore. With a smartphone on hand, the seniors learnt how to register for PayNow, transfer money to their friends and make payments by scanning QR codes. They also discovered how they can use DBS PayLah! to make everyday payments for their bills such as those for telecommunications, utilities and more. The seniors also got to pick up tips on how to stay safe when they are on e-payment platforms.

 

74-year-old Mdm Lee, a regular volunteer at MWS Senior Activity Centre - Kebun Baru, was one of the participants. When asked why she had participated in this learning session, she shared, “As long as I live, I will learn. There is no such thing as being too old to learn. In fact, I plan to use e-payment from now on, it is so much more convenient as compared to paying cash!”

 

For 73-year-old Mdm Kelly, she found the session interesting and was delighted to find out that there are so many ways to make payments today. By having a better understanding of e-payment, seniors will have more options to choose from when paying for goods and services in the future, thus allowing them to leverage on technology and improve their quality of life.

 

For a full list of short courses, click here.

 

For a full list of exam-free modules, click here.

 

For a list of ad hoc learning opportunities, click here.