What is a mode of payment?

A mode of payment is the specific method used to transfer funds from a buyer to a seller in a transaction. Common modes of payment include cash, credit or debit card, bank transfer, e-wallet, QR code payment, and Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL). The term appears frequently in invoices, contracts, business registration forms, and payment system documentation.

The phrase “mode of payment” is a formal, business-register term — it tends to appear in official and administrative contexts rather than consumer-facing ones. When a government form asks for your “mode of payment,” it wants to know whether you are paying by cheque, bank transfer, card, or another method. When a supplier’s invoice specifies “mode of payment: bank transfer,” it is stating the required or expected payment channel.

For businesses, selecting which modes of payment to accept is a commercial decision that affects conversion rates, transaction fees, settlement timing, and customer experience.

Common modes of payment

Cash

Physical currency — banknotes and coins. Cash requires no technology infrastructure and settles instantly. For businesses, it carries risks of theft and counting errors, offers no digital record, and is declining as a proportion of consumer spending in most urban markets, particularly across Southeast Asia.

Credit card

A revolving credit instrument issued by a bank (Visa, Mastercard, American Express). The card network authorises the transaction, and the cardholder repays the card issuer later. For merchants, card acceptance typically costs 1.5–3.5% per transaction, depending on the card type and country. Cards are subject to chargebacks — see What is a chargeback?

Debit card

Draws funds directly from the cardholder’s bank account. Operates over the same Visa/Mastercard networks as credit cards. Generally lower fraud risk than credit cards from a merchant’s perspective. Card-present (in-person) debit transactions often carry lower interchange rates than card-not-present (online) transactions.

Bank transfer

A direct movement of funds between bank accounts. Bank transfers can be domestic (within a country, using local rails) or international (via SWIFT). In Southeast Asia, domestic bank transfer networks include PayNow (Singapore), DuitNow (Malaysia), and InstaPay/PESONet (Philippines). Bank transfers are push-based — the payer initiates the transfer — which means they carry no chargeback risk for the receiving business.

E-wallet / digital wallet

A software application that stores payment credentials or funds, enabling payments without a physical card. Two main types exist: pass-through wallets (Apple Pay, Google Pay) that tokenise an existing card, and stored-value wallets (GrabPay, GCash, Touch ‘n Go eWallet) that hold a balance. See What is a digital wallet?

QR code payment

A payment initiated by scanning a QR code with a smartphone. The QR encodes payment routing information — the payee’s account or UEN. In Southeast Asia, national QR standards (SGQR in Singapore, DuitNow QR in Malaysia, QR Ph in the Philippines) allow a single QR code to accept multiple payment methods. QR payments may route over bank transfer rails (PayNow QR) or e-wallet rails (GrabPay QR) depending on the app the customer uses.

Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL)

An instalment credit product offered at checkout. The BNPL provider pays the merchant the full transaction amount immediately and collects instalments from the customer. For merchants, BNPL typically costs 2–6% of the transaction value — higher than card fees — but consistently increases average order value. Common BNPL providers in Southeast Asia include GrabPay PayLater, SPayLater (ShopeePay), Atome, and ShopBack PayLater.

Cheque

A written order directing a bank to pay a specified sum. Cheques are slow (multi-day clearing), cannot be tracked in real time, and carry a risk of bouncing. Cheque usage is declining sharply across all markets, though it remains a legal mode of payment in most jurisdictions and is still used in B2B contexts in some industries.

Cryptocurrency

A decentralised digital currency (Bitcoin, Ethereum, and others). Cryptocurrency acceptance is a niche mode of payment — relevant for specific merchant categories and customer demographics, but not mainstream for general business use in Southeast Asia.

Modes of payment for businesses in Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines

Southeast Asia has a fragmented payments landscape — preferred modes of payment differ significantly by country, and some methods are country-specific. The table below covers the major modes relevant to businesses operating in Singapore, Malaysia, and the Philippines.

Key point for merchants: No single mode of payment covers all customers in any Southeast Asian market. Businesses that accept only cards miss a significant proportion of customers who prefer bank transfers or e-wallets. Accepting a range of modes — cards, local bank transfer, and at least one e-wallet — captures the broadest customer base.

How to accept multiple modes of payment with HitPay

Integrating each mode of payment separately — one provider for cards, another for PayNow, another for GrabPay — creates operational complexity and reporting fragmentation. HitPay is a payment gateway that consolidates multiple modes of payment under a single integration.

With a HitPay account, Singapore businesses can accept cards, PayNow, GrabPay, ShopeePay, Atome, ShopBack PayLater, and WeChat Pay. Malaysia businesses can accept cards, FPX, DuitNow, GrabPay, Touch ‘n Go eWallet, ShopeePay, and Boost. Philippines businesses can accept cards, GCash, Maya, and ShopeePay PH. All payment modes appear as options in the same checkout, all transactions flow into the same dashboard, and all settlements are reported in one place.

HitPay integrates with Shopify, WooCommerce, Wix, Magento, PrestaShop, and other platforms — payment methods are enabled as a plugin, with no separate API work per payment mode. For businesses without a website, HitPay payment links and invoices include all enabled payment modes by default.

There are no setup fees or monthly fees. Merchants pay per transaction only.

Accept multiple modes of payment with HitPay →

Singapore payment gateway → · Payment methods in Singapore → · What is a digital wallet? →

Frequently Asked Questions