The UX Journey of CPF Digital Service

Overview

At the STACK 2020 Conference, Deputy Chief Executive (ICT & Digital Services) of the Singapore Central Provident Fund Board (CPFB) Mr. Ng Hock Keong spoke about how Digitalisation has led to the growth of the board and the rationale behind CPFB’s commitment to diversify and enhance its service offerings for citizens.

The CPFB addresses Singaporeans’ retirement, housing and healthcare needs. “We served all these with barely 2500 CPFB officers,” said Mr. Ng, explaining how digital services has allowed for more efficient ways to better serve citizens and improve user experience. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the CPFB disbursed $27b worth of various relief packages to close to 3 million citizens / PR, with digitalisation allowing the disbursement to be done in 10 days for first major package.

CPFs’ digital suite of services includes Smart Payment and Collection, myCPF Mobile App and FASTERPEEK.

Smart Payment and Collection

Smart Payment and Collection was introduced as a way to elevate the service experience of customers. It utilises digital payment methods that enhance the efficiency and security of payments via platform PayNow!. CPF members over age 55 can receive a lump sum withdrawal through PayNow!, where the funds will be disbursed within 5 minutes rather than over a period of 5 days, the previous turnaround time.

Other features include:

• Use of PayNow! NRIC and QR code to allow customers to receive payments without providing bank account details.
• Moving from GIRO to FAST for retirement monthly payments so customers can receive earlier payouts, from 4th working day of the month to 3rd calendar day of the month.

The process eliminates the likelihood of incorrect submissions by citizens and splitting payments into different transactions due to higher payment limits is not required.

myCPF Mobile App

myCPF was launched to increase transparency between customers and the CPFB, enabling citizens to check their account balance and transaction details 24/7. Features include QR code and push notifications services to provide timely notifications without logging in to the CPF website. Improvements in the new app were based on Mr Ng’s two guiding principles; to ensure that the app was not a replicate of the website and to use website data usage to prioritise key transactions onboard. The changes led to improved customer ratings: 1.8/5 to 3.8/5 on iOS and 4.6/5 on Android.

FASTERPEEK

FASTERPEEK is an upcoming service which uses QR Entropy Product or CPF URL to provide personalised customer experience and convenience for customers as SingPass login is not required for authentication purposes. The aim is to allow citizens to access information without the hassle of logging in.

Overall Effects

“Our efforts in improving digital service has led to greater trust,” said Mr Ng.

Overall effects (over same period in 2019) include:

• 11% ($280 million) decrease in amount of OA/SA withdrawn.
• 18% ($230 million) increase in Retirement Sum Top Up.
• More than 200% ($410 million) increase in amount of Voluntary Housing Refund.

The improvement of digital services stemmed from the strong innovation culture in CPF InnoHub. “We need a hipster, we need a hacker, we need a hustler, to help design the full experience for customers. At the same time, a good housekeeper to keep the systems in check,” said Mr. Ng, explaining the critical success factors in shaping citizens’ experience.

Last updated 01 June 2022

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