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Business Times
11 hours ago
- Business
- Business Times
Singapore's banking hub has a busy corner where cash is still king
[SINGAPORE] In the heart of Singapore, a financial hub where billions of dollars zip around the world over computer screens in nanoseconds, there's a crowded building where cash still reigns. Six days a week, hundreds of people line up in a rundown mall abutting Raffles Place square to buy and sell hard currency at one of around 30 money changer stalls. All manner of notes can be had in minutes: Singapore dollars for British pounds? Coming right up. Indonesian rupiah for Vietnamese dong? Icelandic krona? Maldivian rufiyaa? No problem. Some 150 currencies are available. 'Cash will remain forever,' said Abdul Haleem, 65, a veteran of the industry whose kiosk sits at the entrance to the narrow, three-storey plaza called The Arcade. The towering offices of global banking giants JPMorgan Chase & Co and Bank of China are just steps away. The number of licensed money changers in Singapore dropped during the Covid-19 pandemic when many people were unable to travel and retail shops struggled to pay rent. But there are close to 250 physical stalls still operating, and new ones continue to spring up across the city-state. That's even though multi-currency payment apps such as YouTrip, Wise and Revolut have grown in popularity. A NEWSLETTER FOR YOU Friday, 8.30 am Asean Business Business insights centering on South-east Asia's fast-growing economies. Sign Up Sign Up To understand how so many cash dealers can survive the digital age, you need to know a bit about Singapore's place in the world. While it's now among the richest countries – where financial titans from UBS Group to BlackRock manage more than US$4 trillion, and billionaires including James Dyson, Ray Dalio and Sergey Brin have set up family offices – Singapore remains a shipping and transit hub at its core. Hundreds of vessels anchor in Singapore's harbour each day, many waiting to load and unload cargo at one of the world's busiest maritime ports. For decades, that's made Raffles Place a prime location for money changers, just a few blocks from where the Singapore River empties into the Singapore Strait. Many sailors need to swap cash from their previous locations, and change money for their next destination. 'They get off the boat and come right here,' said Haleem, whose uncle Abdul Gaffoor, now 99, started City Money Changers on the Arcade's ground floor in 1980. Old-world relic Many office workers also come in search of the best exchange rates, which are often better than what banks offer. It's an old-world relic resisting the bits and bytes revolution. Mobile phones and tablets have replaced newspapers, while emails and social media have supplanted faxes and letters. Now digital payments are coming for the ancient culture of coins and paper notes. Mohamed Rafik, 55, a partner at Arcade Money Changers, a stall opposite Haleem's, remains optimistic. His evidence is that there are new licensees entering the industry who wouldn't do it if they couldn't make a living. 'Money changers won't go out of business,' said Rafik, while handling cash and paper receipts on a busy afternoon. Digital payment wallets may seem attractive now, but the companies also have overheads and may try to increase rates in the long run, he predicted. Right now, a thriving tourism industry is driving demand during the summer school holidays. Singapore is close to regional holiday hotspots like Phuket, Bali and Vietnam's Ha Long Bay, where cash is still needed to pay for food at street stalls or small restaurants, or to offer tips. Travellers with cash also avoid the higher exchange rates and foreign transaction fees imposed by many credit cards. Life lesson For Christina Ng, a teacher in her 40s who came to Haleem's stall for South Korean won, cash gives a sense of security while traveling. Paying with notes and coins is also a lesson for her three children. 'I want them to learn how to use the cash and do the transaction, so they need to see the physical money,' she said. 'We don't want them to just tap, tap, tap without actually knowing what they're spending on.' The money changers are good leading indicators of travel trends. Whereas demand used to be strongest for US dollars and Malaysian ringgit, the Japanese yen is now most sought-after, along with Korean won and Taiwanese dollars, Haleem said. A record number of tourists have flocked to Japan to visit historic sites, dine on sushi and take advantage of the weakened currency. At the Arcade, the money changers carve out an existence on the fringes of the multi-trillion dollar global foreign-exchange market. Customers throng the narrow passages to scrutinise buy and sell rates at tightly packed stalls, which are required to post rates on electronic screens. Frugality gives them an edge against the financial institutions that occupy the opulent towers surrounding Raffles Place, according to Rafik at Arcade Money Changers. The changers will survive even if digital platforms cut their margins to zero to gain market share, he said. Congregating in one location attracts more customers, but it also pares margins to the bone. Foreign currency bought at a commercial bank can cost 1 per cent to 4 per cent or more once you factor in a poorer exchange rate and transaction fees. At City Money Changers, it's a high-volume, low-margin business where Haleem typically makes fractions of a penny on the dollar in a swap. 'Everybody wants to see the best price so they will shop around,' he said, while taking a break from his tiny kiosk. On Thursday (Jun 19) afternoon, Haleem's stall was selling the greenback at S$1.2900, versus the S$1.2972 offered by Singapore's largest bank DBS on its retail app. The cash exchange rate wasn't as favourable as YouTrip's rate of S$1.2877 per US dollar. With all this cash on hand -– some changers can turn over as much as S$500,000 a day, he says – you would expect to see armed guards all over the plaza. Instead, the stallholders rely on security cameras – there are some 90,000 across the city – to monitor activity. The dealers are the eyes and ears for each other, on the alert for any suspicious customers. Regulators have scrutinised the industry in the past, concerned about the potential for money laundering. In 2016, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) cited a Raffles Place currency changer, along with other banks, for their roles in the scandal at 1MDB, the Malaysian sovereign wealth fund. The probe revealed inadequate risk management practices at the changer, and failure to identify the beneficial owners of funds. Money changers are now required to conduct customer due diligence measures for cash transactions exceeding S$5,000, or for those topping S$20,000 where the money is funded from an identifiable source like a bank account. That includes verifying customers' identities and keeping proper transaction records. The industry poses a 'moderate level' of money laundering threats due to its cash-intensive nature, said a spokesperson for the MAS, the country's financial regulator. Haleem, who's been at this trade for 40 years, concedes that the future isn't all bright for his industry. Business is about half that of pre-Covid levels, and the increased competition is eroding margins, while wild currency swings can leave him sitting on devalued cash overnight. He predicts the trend toward digital payments is only going to accelerate. 'It will become worse and worse,' he said, though he thinks there will always be a little room in people's wallets for cold hard cash. One floor up at Crown Exchange, Thamim A K, a money changer in his 60s, is more sanguine. Sitting in a backroom surrounded by wads of South Korean won and Indonesian rupiah, he says his 40 years of trading, with all its ups and downs, gives him hope for the future. 'I've seen everything, all the currencies, fluctuations,' he said. 'The bank notes business is still there. It's growing, in fact. It's fighting with digital.' BLOOMBERG
Business Times
14 hours ago
- Business
- Business Times
Singapore's banking hub has a corner where cash is still king
[SINGAPORE] In the heart of Singapore, a financial hub where billions of dollars zip around the world over computer screens in nanoseconds, there's a crowded building where cash still reigns. Six days a week, hundreds of people line up in a rundown mall abutting Raffles Place square to buy and sell hard currency at one of around 30 money changer stalls. All manner of notes can be had in minutes: Singapore dollars for British pounds? Coming right up. Indonesian rupiah for Vietnamese dong? Icelandic krona? Maldivian rufiyaa? No problem. Some 150 currencies are available. 'Cash will remain forever,' said Abdul Haleem, 65, a veteran of the industry whose kiosk sits at the entrance to the narrow, three-story plaza called The Arcade. The towering offices of global banking giants JPMorgan Chase & Co and Bank of China are just steps away. The number of licensed money changers in Singapore dropped during the Covid-19 pandemic when many people were unable to travel and retail shops struggled to pay rent. But there are close to 250 physical stalls still operating, and new ones continue to spring up across the city-state. That's even though multi-currency payment apps such as YouTrip, Wise and Revolut have grown in popularity. A NEWSLETTER FOR YOU Friday, 8.30 am Asean Business Business insights centering on South-east Asia's fast-growing economies. Sign Up Sign Up To understand how so many cash dealers can survive the digital age, you need to know a bit about Singapore's place in the world. Though it's now among the richest countries - where financial titans from UBS Group AG to BlackRock manage more than US$4 trillion and billionaires including James Dyson, Ray Dalio and Sergey Brin have set up family offices - the island nation remains a shipping and transit hub at its core. Hundreds of vessels anchor in Singapore's harbour each day, many waiting to load and unload cargo at one of the world's busiest maritime ports. For decades, that's made Raffles Place a prime location for money changers, just a few blocks from where the Singapore River empties into the Singapore Strait. Many sailors need to swap cash from their previous locations, and change money for their next destination. 'They get off the boat and come right here,' said Haleem, whose uncle Abdul Gaffoor, now 99, started City Money Changers on the Arcade's ground floor in 1980. Old-world relic Many office workers also come in search of the best exchange rates - which are often better than what banks offer. It's an old-world relic resisting the bits and bytes revolution. Mobile phones and tablets have replaced newspapers, while emails and social media have supplanted faxes and letters. Now digital payments are coming for the ancient culture of coins and paper notes. Mohamed Rafik, 55, a partner at Arcade Money Changers, a stall opposite Haleem's, remains optimistic. His evidence is that there are new licensees entering the industry who wouldn't do it if they couldn't make a living. 'Money changers won't go out of business,' said Rafik, while handling cash and paper receipts on a busy afternoon. Digital payment wallets may seem attractive now, but the companies also have overheads and may try to increase rates in the long run, he predicted. Right now, a thriving tourism industry is driving demand during the summer school holidays. Singapore is close to South-east Asian holiday hotspots like Phuket in Thailand, Vietnam's Ha Long Bay and Bali, Indonesia, where cash is still needed to pay for food at street stalls or small restaurants, or to offer tips. Travellers with cash also avoid the higher exchange rates and foreign transaction fees imposed by many credit cards. Life lesson For Christina Ng, a teacher in her 40s who came to Haleem's stall for Korean won, cash gives a sense of security while traveling. Paying with notes and coins is also a lesson for her three children. 'I want them to learn how to use the cash and do the transaction, so they need to see the physical money,' she said. 'We don't want them to just tap, tap, tap without actually knowing what they're spending on.' The money changers are good leading indicators of travel trends. Whereas demand used to be strongest for US dollars and Malaysian ringgit, the Japanese yen is now most sought-after, along with Korean won and Taiwanese dollars, Haleem said. A record number of tourists have flocked to Japan to visit historic sites, dine on sushi and take advantage of the weakened currency. At the Arcade, the money changers carve out an existence on the fringes of the multi-trillion dollar global foreign-exchange market. Customers throng the narrow passages to scrutinise buy and sell rates at tightly packed stalls, which are required to post rates on electronic screens. Frugality gives them an edge against the financial institutions that occupy the opulent towers surrounding Raffles Place, according to Rafik at Arcade Money Changers. The changers will survive even if digital platforms cut their margins to zero to gain market share, he said. Congregating in one location attracts more customers, but it also pares margins to the bone. Foreign currency bought at a commercial bank can cost 1 per cent to 4 per cent or more once you factor in a poorer exchange rate and transaction fees. At City Money Changers, it's a high-volume, low-margin business where Haleem typically makes fractions of a penny on the dollar in a swap. 'Everybody wants to see the best price so they will shop around,' he said, while taking a break from his tiny kiosk. On Thursday afternoon, Haleem's stall was selling the greenback at S$1.2900, versus the S$1.2972 offered by DBS Group Holdings, Singapore's largest bank, on its retail app. The cash exchange rate wasn't as favourable as YouTrip's rate of S$1.2877 per US dollar. With all this cash on hand - some changers can turn over S$500,000 a day, he says - you'd expect to see armed guards all over the plaza. Not in Singapore, where violent crime is almost non-existent. Instead, the stall-holders rely on security cameras - there are some 90,000 across the city - to monitor activity. The dealers are the eyes and ears for each other, on the alert for any suspicious customers. Regulators have scrutinised the industry in the past, concerned about the potential for money laundering. In 2016, the Monetary Authority of Singapore cited a Raffles Place currency changer, along with other banks, for their roles in the scandal at 1MDB, the Malaysian sovereign wealth fund. The probe revealed inadequate risk management practices at the changer, and failure to identify the beneficial owners of funds. Money changers are now required to conduct customer due diligence measures for cash transactions exceeding S$5,000, or for those topping S$20,000 where the money is funded from an identifiable source like a bank account. That includes verifying customers' identities and keeping proper transaction records. The industry poses a 'moderate level' of money-laundering threats due to its cash-intensive nature, said a spokesperson for the MAS, the country's financial regulator. Haleem, who's been at this trade for 40 years, concedes that the future isn't all bright for his industry. Business is about half that of pre-Covid levels, and the increased competition is eroding margins, while wild currency swings can leave him sitting on devalued cash overnight. He predicts the trend toward digital payments is only going to accelerate. 'It will become worse and worse,' he said, though he thinks there will always be a little room in people's wallets for cold hard cash. One floor up at Crown Exchange, Thamim A.K., a money changer in his 60s, is more sanguine. Sitting in a backroom surrounded by wads of Korean won and Indonesian rupiah, he says his 40 years of trading, with all its ups and downs, gives him hope for the future. 'I've seen everything, all the currencies, fluctuations,' Thamim said. 'The bank notes business is still there. It's growing, in fact. It's fighting with digital.' BLOOMBERG
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
JPMorgan Emerges Strong Amid Market Swings, Says Wolfe Research
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) is one of Best Dividend Stocks to Buy for Dependable Growth. According to Wolfe Research, investors should consider JPM amid volatility. The stock has surged by over 12% since the start of 2025, outperforming the broader market by a wide margin. A group of business people discussing plans around a boardroom table adorned with a financial services company logo. With markets remaining unsettled due to evolving trade policies and geopolitical tensions, Wolfe Research is focusing on companies with a long-standing habit of buying back their own shares as a way to weather the volatility, and JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) made the cut. Wolfe's 'consistent buyback' list highlights firms that have reduced their share count for at least 10 consecutive years. According to Chief Investment Strategist Chris Senyek, this group of stocks tends to perform well during defensive market phases and around periods of economic downturn. According to the firm, JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) kicked off 2025 by increasing its share repurchases, despite CEO Jamie Dimon expressing caution at the bank's 2024 investor day, when he felt the stock was somewhat overvalued. However, with JPM sitting on a growing cash reserve, the buybacks moved forward. Wolfe's data indicates the bank's buyback-to-market-cap ratio stands at 4%. So far in 2025, JPMorgan stock has seen steady performance, and about 56% of analysts tracked by FactSet have rated it a 'Buy,' with the average price target suggesting a roughly 3% potential upside. JPM is also a solid dividend payer, currently offering a quarterly dividend of $1.40 per share for a dividend yield of 2.08%, as of June 17. JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) is a leading provider of investment banking, commercial banking, asset management, and financial transaction services. The firm serves millions of customers across the U.S., along with major corporate, institutional, and government clients around the world. While we acknowledge the potential of JPM as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you're looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock. READ NEXT: and Disclosure. None. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Business Wire
4 days ago
- Business
- Business Wire
JPMorganChase to Host Second-Quarter 2025 Earnings Call
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--As previously announced, JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) ('JPMorganChase' or the 'Firm') will host a conference call to review second-quarter 2025 financial results on Tuesday, July 15, 2025 at 8:30 a.m. (ET). The results are scheduled to be released at approximately 7:00 a.m. (ET). The live audio webcast and presentation slides will be available on under Investor Relations, Events & Presentations. JPMorganChase will notify the public that financial results have been issued through its social media outlet @JPMorgan and @Chase on X, and by a press release over Business Wire that will provide the link to the Firm's Investor Relations website. In addition to being available on the Firm's Investor Relations website, the earnings results also will be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission ('SEC') on a Form 8-K, which will be available on the SEC website at The general public can access the conference call by dialing the following numbers: 1 (888) 324 3618 in the U.S. and Canada; +1 (312) 470 7119 for international callers; use passcode 1364784#. Please dial in 15 minutes prior to the start of the call. The replay will be available via webcast on under Investor Relations, Events & Presentations. A replay of the conference call also will be available by telephone beginning at approximately 11:00 a.m. (ET) on July 15, 2025 through 11:59 p.m. (ET) on July 29, 2025 at 1 (800) 841 4034 (U.S. and Canada); +1 (203) 369 3360 (International); use passcode 67371#. JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) is a leading financial services firm based in the United States of America ('U.S.'), with operations worldwide. JPMorganChase had $4.4 trillion in assets and $351 billion in stockholders' equity as of March 31, 2025. The Firm is a leader in investment banking, financial services for consumers and small businesses, commercial banking, financial transaction processing and asset management. Under the J.P. Morgan and Chase brands, the Firm serves millions of customers in the U.S., and many of the world's most prominent corporate, institutional and government clients globally. Information about JPMorgan Chase & Co. is available at
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
JPMorganChase Declares Preferred Stock Dividends
NEW YORK, June 13, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) ("JPMorganChase" or the "Firm") has declared dividends on the outstanding shares of the Firm's Series CC preferred stock. Information can be found on the Firm's Investor Relations website at JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) is a leading financial services firm based in the United States of America ("U.S."), with operations worldwide. JPMorganChase had $4.4 trillion in assets and $351 billion in stockholders' equity as of March 31, 2025. The Firm is a leader in investment banking, financial services for consumers and small businesses, commercial banking, financial transaction processing and asset management. Under the J.P. Morgan and Chase brands, the Firm serves millions of customers in the U.S., and many of the world's most prominent corporate, institutional and government clients globally. Information about JPMorgan Chase & Co. is available at View source version on Contacts Investor Contact: Mikael Grubb212-270-2479Media Contact: Joseph Evangelisti212-270-7438
