GovTech says Singpass downtime not linked to traffic surge from CDC voucher launch

While the launch of the latest round of Community Development Council (CDC) vouchers was thought to have led to the downtime of the Singpass service on 3 January 2023, GovTech has said that preliminary investigations did not suggest any correlation between the Singpass outage and the redemption of CDC vouchers.

In a statement to MARKETING-INTERACTIVE, GovTech said the service was intermittent for users who were logging in to Singpass via QR Code. This disruption was confirmed at 12:23pm. Logging in to Singpass via shortcuts in Singpass App, and ID/password were unaffected. This disruption was caused by the malfunction of a component that manages the session when users log in using QR Code. Service resumed at 2:41pm.

"We continued to monitor the performance of the system and perform necessary testing. We ensured that the system is stable before officially informing the public of service resumption at 3:56pm. Preliminary investigation does not suggest any correlation with the CDC Voucher redemption," the statement read. 

In a tweet earlier in the day, GovTech noted that several users were facing difficulties in accessing the platform, and apologised for the inconvenience caused. For many Singaporeans, Singpass has become a way of life given its convenience and security for both citizens and businesses to transact with the government and other private service providers. 

However, this down time is unlikely to impact the trust consumers have on the brand, said marketing and digital professionals MARKETING-INTERACTIVE spoke to. Professional David Lim who previously worked with brands such as Scoot and Happy Fresh shared that Singpass has definitely earned its stripes of being a relatively stable and secure platform since its genesis. As such, the incident is unlikely to be viewed as a major intrusion or as instability caused by a cyber-attack by consumers.

While websites and platform experience being impacted due to high volumes of traffic isn’t uncommon to consumers, Lim said that in situations where platforms expect for a high volume of traffic to emerge, tech servers need to be beefed up quickly to support the continuous increase in users. Recalling the spike in Happy Fresh’s traffic during the pandemic by three to five times, he shared that an urgent reaction almost instantly is necessary to ensure customer experience is not affected. "This will also positively affect customers' trust in the brand,” he said.

While GovTech has stated that the downtime faced by the app wasn't due to the CDC vouchers, Lim shared that it is wise for any brand to note that when launching a new product or initiative, calculated measures need to be taken to increase tech capability to support the possible influx of users at the same time. “This has always been a practice of every eCommerce team across multiple verticals that are launching attractive promotions and products,” he said.

Jeffery Lim, founder of digital agency 8traordinary argued that even if the downtime on Singpass had been due to the CDC vouchers, the sudden high volume of traffic seen might have been hard to predict given that the CDC vouchers have a validity that lasts up until 31 December 2023 - a span of 12 months. “It’s difficult to project when there will be a spike in the traffic to redeem them,” he said. Nonetheless Lim outlined three pointers which GovTech should always keep in mind:

1. GovTech’s mission which is to make government digital services not just safe, secure and accurate but also easy to use and empowering. This means business is not as usual anymore.
2. SingPass being the only means of redemption.
3. Probable common user behaviour to claim and redeem cash or equivalent as soon as possible with the kicking in of the GST hike.

He added that SingPass has been doing a great job consistently for some time now, and as such, this incident would not necessarily shake the confidence users have on the platform - though some might be frustrated with this downtime.

“This could be a good reminder for SingPass and service providers such as banks, credit card/financial companies that with great power (in this case power in storing crucial data) comes great responsibility (responsibility to ensure the service works when and where required),” he added.

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