(Sept 23): Singaporeans are among the most open to allowing an artificial intelligence agent to shop for them but they also want the strictest guardrails, research shows.
The latest agentic artificial intelligence (AI) study from Global Payments released on Wednesday indicates the hoops agentic AI will need to jump through to be trusted to make purchases without human intervention. The study, which surveyed seven countries, including the US, China and UK, found 59% of Singaporeans are open to an agent shopping for them while 23% have already used one. Only 15% say they’d let an agent shop, shortlist and pay entirely on its own.
Payment companies and AI startups are working towards a digital future where people will authorise agents to make all sorts of purchases on their behalf. The survey results point to the gap between curiosity about agentic AI for personal commerce — everything from switching insurance policies to designing travel itineraries — and comfort in letting an agent do more than browse and recommend.
“The same instinct that made Singapore an early adopter of fast, verified payments is exactly what’s holding the wallet back from agents,” said Phil Pomford, executive lead, Enterprise APAC at Global Payments. “Consumers want the confirmation step, the certification, the proof it’s secure, before they’ll delegate that final purchase click.”
The study found 34% of Singaporeans wanted a government-backed AI safety certification, the highest of the countries in the survey. Singaporeans also topped the list in terms of wanting a phone-push notification before an AI-driven purchase while 41% would want a biometric sign-off versus 36% globally. The biggest issues cited were security, including protection of payment details.
That caution shows the challenges ahead globally for agentic AI in personal commerce, given Singapore is already at the forefront in many ways on digital payments adoption. Alongside questions around liability and fraud mitigation, there are more prosaic issues including what happens if someone simply dislikes what an agent ends up choosing and buying for them.
An earlier study by consulting firm PwC and the Singapore FinTech Association showed digital payment adoption in Singapore stood at 92% in 2025, with everyday use of mobile wallets and widespread QR acceptance. It noted e-commerce sales in Singapore were projected to reach US$14 billion (RM56.97 billion) by 2027, nearly double the amount from the start of the decade. At the same time, losses to scams in the first half of 2025 showed schemes evolving in sophistication and business model.
Singapore is seeking to become a global hub for AI, an industry now dominated by US and Chinese players. It’s allowing companies to claim AI spending for tax deductions and allowances and spending more than S$1 billion (RM3.19 billion) to fund public AI research over the next five years. It has created an AI council chaired by Prime Minister Lawrence Wong to provide strategic direction. At the same time, Wong said in February that AI “must serve our national interests and our people”.
The Global Payments study found those surveyed in Singapore would trust an AI agent to spend fairly small amounts on average on their behalf for now: Around S$49 for health and wellness, and S$33 for a one-time digital purchase. Even then, they’d want the same checks as they’d demand for a wealth-management transaction.
The survey also showed Singaporeans are comfortable with an agent enacting a modest S$400 money transfer or just under S$1,200 to execute a trade.
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