Thailand’s PromptPay and
Singapore’s PayNow join hands for World’s First Linkage of Real-time Payment
Systems
Singapore’s PayNow system
that lets individuals transfer money using just a mobile number is now linked
to Thailand's PromptPay version.
The linkage between the
two countries' national fast payment systems is the first of its kind in the
world.
The Monetary Authority of
Singapore and Bank of Thailand have linked their country’s retail real-time
payment systems, saying this would sharply cut transaction times.
No other central banks
around the world have connected their retail instant payment networks.
Both systems have been
designed by Vocalink, now a subsidiary of MasterCard.
In a joint statement on today
April 29, 2021, the central banks said Thailand’s PromptPay system had been
connected to Singapore’s PayNow network.
The cooperation between
MAS and BOT goes back to 2006, when the MOU was signed by Mr Heng Swee Keat,
Managing Director, MAS, and M.R. Pridiyathorn Devakula, Governor, BOT, in
Singapore in May 2006.
Customers of participating
banks in Singapore and Thailand will be able to transfer funds of up to S$1,000
or THB25,000 (S$1,060) daily across the two countries, using just a mobile
number.
There will be no need to
populate information fields such as the recipient’s full name and bank account
details, as with normal remittance solutions.
The funds will flow seamlessly
and securely between customers’ accounts in Singapore and Thailand and
vice-versa.
The experience will be
similar to how domestic PayNow and PromptPay transfers are made today, in which
senders can use their mobile banking or payment applications to initiate fund
transfers instantly and securely, at any time of the day.
As there is no change in
the experience pattern for the participating bank account holders, it is
expected volumes will be reasonably good from Day 1.
The transfers will be
completed within a matter of minutes, representing a marked improvement over
the average of 1-2 working days needed by most cross-border remittance
solutions.
The funds transfer channel
is open 24*7, 7 Days a week, 365 days a year. This means there will be no holidays
for this cross-border payment channel.
Singapore
is 1 hour ahead of Thailand. Eg: 2:10 pm Saturday, in Singapore is 1:10 pm
Saturday, in Thailand. This means the time gap between Singapore and Thailand
is very less, which is a plus point for this payment channel.
The
senders will be able to see the conversion rate and the applicable fees before
conformation of the payment.
The fees will be
affordably priced at less than 3 per cent to 5 per cent of the value of
transfer, compared with the global average of 11 per cent, and will be
transparently displayed to senders.
Participating
banks have confirmed that the conversion rates and fees will be transparent and
reasonable.
As
of now, no charges are envisaged for the fund’s recipients.
In
the first phase, only P2P (Person to Person) payments are enabled. In the long
run, P2M (Person to Merchant) and M2P (Merchant to Person) payments may be
enabled.
The
payment channel will progressively scale up the PromptPay-PayNow linkage to
include more participants and extend the transfer limits to facilitate business
transactions.
The
new initiative was announced via a joint statement, by BoT and MAS.
Meanwhile,
BoT governor Dr Sethaput Suthiwartnarueput said the service by MAS and BoT
would effectively address customers' long-standing pain points in the area of
cross-border transfers and remittances including long transaction times and
high costs.
“Today’s
PromptPay-PayNow linkage represents another key milestone in our digital
payments journey.
“With
the success of PromptPay, our domestic payment system, we have sought to
enhance cross-border linkages with ASEAN and other countries and have launched
our QR cross-border payment connectivity with Japan, Laos, Cambodia, and
Vietnam,” he said.
MAS
managing director Ravi Menon, meanwhile, said MAS’ shared objective with BoT is
to work with their ASEAN counterparts to expand this bilateral linkage into a
network of linked retail payment systems across ASEAN.
“With
the rise of the digital economy, we want to empower individuals and businesses
in the region with simple, swift and secure cross-border payments through just
a few clicks on their mobile phones,” he said.
The
first steps towards PromptPay-PayNow linkage started off in 2019 under the
ASEAN Payment Connectivity plan.
The
linkage ‘Go Live’, involved an extensive collaboration between the BoT and MAS,
both countries’ payment system operators, bankers’ associations, and
participating banks.
Participating
pilot banks in Thailand: - Bangkok Bank, Kasikornbank, Krung Thai Bank, and
Siam Commercial Bank.
Participating
pilot banks in Singapore:- DBS Bank, OCBC, and United Overseas Bank.
Thailand’s PromptPay: -
Tagline - Offering quick, convenient and secure payments with minimal or no
fees!
PromptPay:
Transforming Thailand to a digital economy @
https://www.vocalink.com/news-insights/stories/promptpay-podcast/
PromptPay
is part of a Thai government-led payments modernisation programme to support
financial inclusion and the roll-out of electronic payments.
It’s
operated by National ITMX Ltd, a national payments service provider in
Thailand, which engaged Vocalink to deliver the solution in 2015.
CASE
STUDY of PromptPay - Transforming Thailand towards a digital economy @
https://www.vocalink.com/news-insights/case-studies/case-study-thailand-promptpay/
Singapore’s PayNow:
-
Tagline - Easily make payments to anyone with PayNow
PayNow is a peer-to-peer
funds transfer service available to retail customers of nine participating
banks and three participating Non-Financial Institutions (NFIs) – Bank of
China, Citibank Singapore, DBS / POSB Bank, HSBC, Industrial and Commercial
Bank of China Limited, Maybank, OCBC Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, UOB,
GrabPay, LiquidPay and Singtel Dash.
PayNow offers an enhanced
funds transfer experience that enables retail customers of the nine
participating banks and three participating NFIs to send and receive Singapore
Dollar funds from one bank or e-wallet account to another in Singapore through
FAST by using just their mobile number, Singapore NRIC/FIN, or Virtual Payment
Address (VPA), instantly.
The sender no longer needs
to know the recipient’s bank/e-wallet provider and account number when
transferring money via PayNow.
PayNow, which launched on
10 July 2017 for participating banks and on 8 February 2021 for participating
NFIs, is provided free to retail customers and is available 24/7, 365days.
ASEAN:
Tagline – One Vision, One Identity, One Community
The Association of
Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, was established on 8 August 1967 in Bangkok,
Thailand, with the signing of the ASEAN Declaration (Bangkok Declaration) by
the Founding Fathers of ASEAN, namely Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines,
Singapore and Thailand.
Brunei Darussalam joined
on 7 January 1984, Viet Nam on 28 July 1995, Lao PDR and Myanmar on 23 July
1997, and Cambodia on 30 April 1999, making up what is today the ten Member
States of ASEAN.
Disclaimer:
These are my personal views only. The bottom line is Mission
#LessCashNotCashLess. Nothing more-Nothing less
Copyright of the Logos
rest with the original logo holder only.
Additional reading
material:
JOINT BOT-MAS MEDIA
RELEASE - Thailand and Singapore Launch World’s First Linkage of Real-time
Payment Systems
Singapore and Thailand
Launch World's First Linkage of Real-time Payment Systems
Infographic about the
process flow
Singapore PayNow links up with Thailand's
PromptPay in a world-first for cross-border fast payments
