Singapore enjoys benefits from cross-border payment links

As the number of visitors to Singapore continues rising post-pandemic, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) is expecting more and higher-value cross-border payment transactions.

The central bank said it has seen “good growth” in the use of such payment links, which allow users to make QR code payments or PayNow transfers to different countries, CNA reported.

This means they can simply pay with their mobile phones, and no longer need to go to a money changer or activate their credit cards before travelling.

According to MAS, payments to Thailand – through the PayNow-PromptPay linkage – have quadrupled in the first quarter of this year compared with three years ago when the linkage was launched.

Currently, aside from Thailand, Singapore has person-to-person and person-to-merchant payment links with countries like Malaysia, Indonesia, China and India. Customers can make cross-border payments to merchants using Singapore’s PayNow and Malaysia’s DuitNow, for example.

Businesses are also looking to adopt such payment linkages, with one telling CNA that they have helped to defray increasing costs and keep their prices competitive.

Food and beverage firm Koufu – best known for its food court business – offers its customers the option of paying through a NETS QR code. That has become the preferred payment method for tourists from China and Malaysia, who can save on foreign exchange fees.

From 2022 to 2023, the number of cross-border payments made using the NETS QR code at Koufu increased five-fold from about 20,000 to 100,000. Notably, 60% of Koufu’s cross-border payments are through China’s WeChat and Alipay apps.

While Singapore aims to extend cross-border payment systems to the rest of Southeast Asia, scaling up has proven to be a challenge. Several factors to consider in such linkages are whether the payment systems in the two countries are technically compatible, and ensuring compliance with the nation's laws and regulations.

In order to extend Singapore’s payment offerings beyond the region, MAS has been working with the BIS Innovation Hub Centre. Linking multiple instant payment systems at scale would mean faster, cheaper and more accessible cross-border transfers.

Such cross-border direct payment links have also greatly helped the Singapore Indian Association, which buys football jerseys and cricket apparel from small towns in India. It uses the linkage between PayNow and India’s Unified Payments Interface, or UPI, to directly pay micro and small business owners.

In the past, it took at least a day for money sent from Singapore to reach India through the usual remittance transfers. Now, with the click of a button, the money gets to India almost instantly.