The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced today that the two authorities are planning to link Singapore’s PayNow and India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) by July 2022.
According to an official announcement shared by MAS, the linkage will enable users to execute instant and cost-effective fund transfers from one bank account to another between India and Singapore.
After the implementation, users from India will be able to send funds to Singapore through mobile phone numbers. On the other hand, Singapore users will be able to send funds to India using UPI virtual payment addresses (VPA).
“By reducing the cost and inefficiencies of remittances between Singapore and India, the PayNow-UPI linkage will directly benefit individuals and businesses in Singapore and India that greatly rely on this mode of payment. Given that PayNow and UPI are integral components of their respective national digital infrastructures, the link between the two systems also paves the way for establishing more comprehensive digital connectivity and interoperability between the two countries,” Sopnendu Mohanty, Chief Fintech Officer of MAS, said.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore launched several initiatives in 2021 to support innovation in the global payments industry. In June 2021, MAS established a partnership with the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, Asian Development Bank and other organizations to introduce a global challenge for retail Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) solutions.
Linkage of PayNow and UPI
MAS and RBI are planning to make the fund transfer process between Singapore and India simple and cost-effective through the connection between PayNow and UPI.
“The connectivity between PayNow and UPI is a major milestone in the development of next-generation infrastructure for cross-border payments between Singapore and India and is closely aligned with the G20’s financial inclusion priorities of driving faster, cheaper and more transparent cross-border payments. The PayNow-UPI linkage builds upon the earlier efforts of NETS and NPCI International Private Limited (NIPL) to foster cross-border interoperability of card and QR payments,” MAS added.
