Singaporeans and Malaysians in both countries will be able to make real-time fund transfers with just a mobile number in 2022.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), on Sept 27, announced that they intend to link both Singapore’s PayNow and Malaysia’s DuitNow real-time payment systems.
The first phase of the linkage will be launched in the fourth quarter of 2022.
In addition to making real-time fund transfers, customers from participating financial institutions will be able to make retail payments by scanning NETS or DuitNow QR codes in stores.
According to MAS and BNM, the project will enable more seamless payments for the high volume of remittances between Singapore and Malaysia, which reached $1.3 billion in 2020.
The linkage will also cater to travellers between both countries, which saw some 12 million arrivals yearly on average before the Covid-19 pandemic struck.
Following the launch, MAS and BNM will expand the linkage to include a wider range of features.
See also: Singapore's PayNow to link with India's Unified Payments Interface by July 2022
Both regulators will also explore the possibility of integrating features such as distributed ledger technology-based solutions to catalyse greater efficiencies in payments clearing.
The linkage is said to be closely aligned with the G20’s work of driving faster, cheaper, more inclusive and more transparent cross-border payments.
“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,” says MAS’s chief fintech officer, Sopnendu Mohanty.
“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,” he adds.
“By bringing the efficiencies observed in domestic payments to cross-border payments, the PayNow-DuitNow linkage will be a game-changer resulting in faster, cheaper and more accessible payment services for the people of both countries. Not only would this initiative further strengthen the economic ties between Singapore and Malaysia, it would also serve as a key enabler to support post-pandemic economic growth,” says Fraziali Ismail, assistant governor of BNM.
