Singapore to open payment rails for NFIs like GrabPay, Razer Fintech, Singtel Dash

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) – the country’s central bank – announced that eligible non-bank financial institutions (NFIs) will have direct access to the banking system’s retail payments infrastructure from February 2021.

Under the Payment Services Act, major payment institutions can connect directly to PayNow, Singapore’s national fund transfer service. This will make electronic payment adoption simpler for both businesses and individuals.

This framework will include companies such as Grab Financial Group, which operates mobile wallet GrabPay; Razer Fintech, the financial technology arm of gaming firm Razer; and Dash, the e-wallet of telecommunications titan Singtel.

PayNow, in turn, can be accessed through FAST (Fast and Secure Transfers), the city-state’s round-the-clock electronic funds transfer service.

“This will enable businesses to access a larger market of consumers than before for receiving e-payments instantly and seamlessly,” said MAS.

The central bank also said that direct connection to FAST and PayNow will enable NFI users to make real-time fund transfers between bank accounts and digital wallets as well as across different e-wallets.

There are currently 23 providers through FAST and nine banks offering PayNow services, which include Bank of China, Citibank, DBS Bank, HSBC, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Maybank, OCBC Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, and United Overseas Bank.

According to MAS, FAST transaction volumes averaged more than 12.5 million per month during the third quarter of 2020. Monthly transaction volumes for PayNow made up almost half of all FAST transactions.