Singapore’s PayNow and Thailand’s PromptPay Now Allows Easier Funds Transfer
Updated: Aug 21, 2021
Singaporeans and Thais can now send each other money through PayNow and PromptPay respectively.
Credit: The Association of Banks in Singapore
Credit: freepikpsd.com
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Bank of Thailand (BOT) recently announced the linkage of their real-time retail payment systems, the first of its kind in the world. As such, customers with participating banks in Singapore and Thailand will now be able to send money to each other quickly and easily.
The MAS stated that Singaporeans and Thais can send funds up to S$1,000 or THB25,000 a day through PayNow and PromptPay without going through the usual procedure of a typical remittance solution. Due to this, filling out information fields such as the recipient’s full name and bank account details will not be required at all. Additionally, the fund transfer will reflect on the recipient’s bank account within a few minutes rather than a day or two.
Ravi Menon, Managing Director of MAS, stated that the linkage between PayNow and PromptPay is only the beginning of their pioneering effort that shows the potential banking systems and payments infrastructures to provide “seamless cross-border payment options to retail customers.” He also added that the MAS and the BOT wish to work with their ASEAN counterparts to turn the linkage into a network of linked retail payment systems across the region. The linkage, according to the MAS, is a key collaboration under the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ Payment Connectivity that was initiated in 2019.
The system-imposed fund transfer limit of S$1,000 in PayNow will be increased in the future Credit: Omise
Although there are only three participating banks in Singapore and four in Thailand, both MAS and BOT are working to progressively scale the linkage to include more participating banks. This effort also includes the extension of the transfer limits to facilitate business transactions.
The Development Bank of Singapore, United Overseas Bank and the Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation are currently the only banks participating in the linkage in Singapore. As for Thailand, the participating banks are The Bangkok Bank, Kasikornbank, Krung Thai Bank and Siam Commercial Bank.
Written by John Paul Joaquin