DBS' new scheme to help hawkers boost monthly income by 10%

The Adopt-a-Hawker Centre pilot programme was first launched in Tanjong Pagar Plaza Market and Food Centre.

DBS launched a programme that will support the livelihood of hawkers in Singapore. This program is seen to boost their monthly earnings by at least 10%.

DBS on 4 September launched the “Adopt-a-Hawker Centre” pilot programme which organises group buys and provide better online discoverability to hawkers to support the livelihoods of those affected by the pandemic.

DBS has adopted the Tanjong Pagar Plaza Market and Food Centre with more than 50 stallholders participating in the event for the pilot programme, adding that it will be expanded to include more hawker centres in the coming weeks.

Under the programme supported by SG Together Alliance for Action—Online Ordering for Hawkers, DBS will help hawkers increase their monthly income by organising more group buys, purchasing meals and drinks every week, and distributing them to frontliners and others who are in need, he said.

This will help hawkers expand their catchment of customers by making their stores more searchable online on social media and DBS platforms such as DBS PayLah! They will also assist hawkers with digital tools to digitalise their business.

“This difficult period requires the collective action of the corporate and public sector, and community, to do what we can to ease the burden on hawkers, even as dining-in progressively resumes and Singapore re-opens. With the ‘Adopt-a-Hawker Centre’ initiative, we want to play a key role in building on ground-up efforts, leveraging our wide customer base as well as digital leadership to help boost hawkers’ earnings and enable them to better overcome this pandemic,” Shee Tse Koon, DBS Singapore country head, said.

Many hawkers are now increasing their online presence to capture more demand as they previously relied on offline and walk-in sales.