Hard copy vouchers available on request for LifeSG credits
Seniors who are unable to access LifeSG credits via mobile application and those who are not comfortable with digital payments may ask the authorities for hard-copy vouchers.
Senior Minister of State for Defence Zaqy Mohamad told Parliament on Nov 13 that more than a quarter of those receiving credits to recognise their contributions to Singapore’s defence and security are above 60 years old.
The credits, which are worth $200, are being distributed to more than 1 million national servicemen past and present through the month of November on the government smartphone app LifeSG, and be used to purchase a range of household and lifestyle goods and services.
Mr Zaqy, who is also Senior Minister of State for Manpower, added that during the last disbursement of such credits through the same application in 2022, about 88 per cent of eligible servicemen who are above 60 years old managed to use their credits, and just 2 per cent of them requested and received hard copy vouchers.
“So the numbers are quite small,” he said.
Mr Zaqy was responding to questions from Mr Ang Wei Neng (West Coast GRC) on how the Government will reach out to those who are less technologically savvy to help them claim the credits.
Mr Ang also said he hoped that using digital payments for such credits would not increase the divide between the digitally savvy and those who are less so.
In response, Mr Zaqy said there is no intention to divide those who are digitally savvy and those who are not, because people have both options – digital credits and the hard copies that they can ask the Ministry of Defence or the Ministry of Home Affairs for.
He said: “Overall, if you look at the survey that we’ve done just about four months after the last campaign, or the last disbursement, in 2022, about 95 per cent of our national servicemen indicated that they were supportive of digital disbursement.”
Mr Ang also raised concerns about the potential vulnerability of such digital payments to scams.
In response, Mr Zaqy said that specific examples of this should be raised so the authorities can investigate.
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