MAS Announces PayNow's Linkage with Malaysia's DuitNow

Singapore's MAS and Malaysia's BNM have announced that they will be linking their payment systems PayNow and DuitNow in a phased manner to revolutionize cross-border payments across the two nations.

The linkage of PayNow and DuitNow will get started in the fourth quarter of 2022. This phase will allow the customers of participating financial institutions to make real-time money transfers between Singapore and Malaysia, using just a mobile number. Further, customers will also be able to make retail payments by scanning NETS or DuitNow QR codes displayed at merchants' storefronts.

"Singapore's remittance corridor with Malaysia is our largest remittance corridor; hence, the PayNow-DuitNow linkage will be an important infrastructure to support cross-border payment needs of individuals and businesses, as well as the growing digital economic activity between both countries. The linkage also offers MAS and BNM a valuable opportunity to incorporate the use of distributed ledger and smart contract technologies in the wholesale cross border payments space," said Sopnendu Mohanty, Chief FinTech Officer of MAS.

This payments systems linkage will also help travellers between the two countries in a big way. Further phases of linkage will present customers with a wider range of features. It is being said that innovative features such as distributed ledger technology-based solutions could also be explored through this linkage.

 

Singapore, India Announce New Project to Link their Fast Payments Systems

Singapore's MAS and India's Central Bank (RBI) have announced a new project to link their respective fast payments systems PayNow and Unified Payments Interface (UPI). This linkage will help the users make instant low-cost money transfers from one bank account to another between Singapore and India.

This linkage will mean that people will be able to make fund transfers from Singapore to India using UPI virtual payment addresses (VPA) and India to Singapore using just mobile phone numbers.

MAS in its statement said, "The connectivity between PayNow and UPI is a major milestone in the development of next-generation infrastructure for cross-border payments between Singapore and India, and is closely aligned with the G20’s financial inclusion priorities of driving faster, cheaper and more transparent cross-border payments."

The UPI-PayNow linkage will build upon the earlier efforts of NETS and NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL) to foster cross-border interoperability of payments using cards and QR codes, between Singapore and India. This project is expected to improve trade, travel, and remittance flows between the two countries.

Sopnendu Mohanty, Chief FinTech Officer of MAS, said, "By reducing the cost and inefficiencies of remittances between Singapore and India, the PayNow-UPI linkage will directly benefit individuals and businesses in Singapore and India that greatly rely on this mode of payment. Given that PayNow and UPI are integral components of their respective national digital infrastructures, the link between the two systems also paves the way for establishing more comprehensive digital connectivity and interoperability between the two countries."