$130 million CDC Vouchers Scheme: Find participating hawkers and heartland merchants on CDC Vouchers Merchants GoWhere

Singaporean households can now find the participating CDC Vouchers hawkers and heartland merchants nearest to them by keying in their postal code or street name on the CDC Vouchers Merchants GoWhere (www.gowhere.gov.sg/cdcvouchers) webpage. This makes it easier for them to support heartland businesses with the CDC vouchers they have claimed.

The five Community Development Councils (CDCs) launched the CDC Vouchers Scheme on 13 December 2021 that aims to thank Singaporeans for their sense of solidarity during the pandemic and to support hawkers and heartland merchants.

To make it easier for Singaporean households to spend their CDC Vouchers, the five CDCs launched CDC Vouchers Merchants GoWhere on 23 December 2021 in partnership with Government Technology Agency (GovTech). This complements efforts to publicise participating hawkers and heartland merchants in the $130 million CDC Vouchers Scheme through decals, banners displayed where clusters of participating businesses are located, and on social media. CDC Vouchers Merchants GoWhere will be updated periodically.

CDC Ambassadors as well as Digital Ambassadors from the SG Digital Office (SDO) have been on the ground inviting and guiding hawkers and heartland merchants to join the CDC Vouchers Scheme through the download and use of the RedeemSG Merchant mobile application; and they will continue their efforts. This way, residents have more choices of merchants to spend their vouchers at, and more merchants get to benefit from the scheme. The RedeemSG system will allow hawkers and heartland merchants to easily accept Government issued digital vouchers and receive faster payouts.

Ms Low Yen Ling, Minister of State, Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth & Ministry of Trade and Industry, Chairman of Mayors’ Committee and Mayor of South West District, said, “We’re heartened by the keen response from Singaporeans who have claimed their CDC Vouchers to spend and support our heartland merchants and hawkers. In the last ten days since the launch, more than 830,000 or about two-thirds of Singaporean households have claimed their vouchers, and above $7 million worth of vouchers have been spent. The number of participating hawkers and heartland merchants continues to grow, with more than 11,000 outlets to date. Over 82 percent of these businesses have received at least one CDC Vouchers transaction.”

Ms Low added, “With this new ‘CDC Vouchers Merchants GoWhere’ function at their fingertips, Singaporeans can easily find the scheme’s participating hawkers and heartland merchants nearest to them and receive at a glance, a list of stalls and shops they can go to in their estate. We hope this will make it even more convenient for them to use the vouchers, and further spur spending in the heartlands in the upcoming festive season. We would like to thank the heartland merchants and hawkers for working with us, and welcome more to join this scheme for the opportunity to deepen and widen their customer base in the heartlands where they operate. Let’s continue to support our heartland merchants and hawkers with our CDC vouchers and appreciate the vital role they play in our housing estates and Singapore culture.”

Among the merchants who have joined the CDC Vouchers Scheme is Mdm Susan Low, 66, who runs The Biscuit House. She shared, “Business was slow in the last three months, but things have started to improve. When I share with customers that they can spend CDC Vouchers in my shop, they would do so and buy more! With this, average earnings per transaction have increased. I think the app is quite easy to use, and even for senior customers there are no issues.”

Mr Muhammad Tamam Shafiq Bin Razman, 28, the second-generation owner of Mankelo Fishery said, “The CDC Vouchers Scheme is a good initiative. Fishmongers like us were hit badly when Jurong Fishery Port was temporary closed a few months back, and the CDC Vouchers Scheme is a good opportunity to boost business. Going cashless has helped me reach out to a bigger group of customers, and at the same time cut the hassle of receiving and counting cash.”

Interested hawkers and heartland merchants can go online at vouchers.cdc.gov.sg/merchants/info to register their interest, and a CDC Ambassador will reach out to them in the next two weeks. Residents have up to one year – until 31 December 2022 – to claim and use their vouchers.