With the linking of the digital payment systems UPI and PayNow, the citizens of India and Singapore can now easily transfer money. By integrating the two countries, faster and more efficient remittances are possible.
Shaktikanta Das, governor of the Reserve Bank of India, and Ravi Menon, managing director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), launched the linkage ahead of Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Lee Hsien Loong of Singapore, who virtually attended the inaugural ceremony.
Indians can use Google Pay, Paytm, and other similar digital payment systems to send money to people in Singapore through this project.
With this application, it is possible to send money cheaply between Singapore and India by utilising mobile phone numbers and UPI virtual payment addresses. Singapore ranks among the top four inward remittance markets for India, according to the RBI Remittance Survey, 2021.
Since the project enables quicker and more affordable financial transfers between the two nations without the requirement of utilising the other payment system, it is anticipated to have a significant positive impact on the Indian population in Singapore, particularly migrant workers and students.
PayNow and UPI are essential elements of their respective national digital infrastructures. The link between the two systems lays the path for developing more extensive digital connectivity and cooperation between the two nations.
What is UPI?
The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) developed the instant real-time payment system known as the Unified Payments Interface (UPI).
It allows for the immediate transfer of money between two bank accounts using mobile devices. The device must be registered with the bank using the mobile number on it. The recipient’s UPI ID can be used to send funds.
With the new function, you can send and receive money using your smartphone as a virtual debit card. The interface makes it possible to conduct peer-to-peer (P2P) and person-to-merchant transactions between banks.
UPI is steadily overtaking other digital payment methods as the most popular one. Most banks and numerous digital wallets can use the UPI interface, and payment applications are embracing it. Some applications used to make UPI payments include PhonePe, Google Pay, Paytm etc.
What is PayNow?
The Association of Banks in Singapore developed PayNow, a near-instant real-time payment system. Transactions between individuals and merchants as well as between banks are made possible via the interface.
The system is overseen by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). It transfers money between two bank accounts and is supported by all significant Singaporean banks.
Any registered Singaporean mobile number, NRIC, corporate Unique Entity Number (UEN), or Virtual Payment Address (VPA) can receive payments. Other payment processors related to PayNow include Stripe, DuitNow (Malaysia), PromptPay (Thailand), and UPI (India).