The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), has proposed a limitation on the usage of coins for payment of goods and services. Recognizing the waning importance of coin-based currency, MAS pitched new legal tender limits as follows:
- A legal tender limit of 10 coins per denomination across all denominations in a single transaction. This means that a payer can use up to 10 pieces each of 5-cent, 10-cent, 20-cent, 50-cent and one-dollar coins per transaction.
Singapore already has a limit in place for the usage of coins with the exception of the S$1 denomination.
Singapore is really just pursuing a trend of moving away from physical currency. Creating and managing physical coins is a costly and cumbersome service in a world of electronic payments and emerging digital coins. Some countries maintain coins due more to nostalgia than practicality. The United States has debated the need for the penny for years.
