• Person-to-person (P2P) cross-border fund transfers are now enabled via PayNow and DuitNow.
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• Users can transfer funds instantly between the two countries by using just the recipient's mobile phone number or Virtual Payment Address (VPA) ^[0] .
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The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) have jointly launched the real-time payment systems linkage between Singapore's PayNow and Malaysia's DuitNow. The initiative follows the QR payment linkage announced on 31 March 2023 which enabled cross-border QR payments to merchants. MAS Managing Director Mr Ravi Menon and BNM Governor Mr Abdul Rasheed Ghaffour marked the launch by executing live cross-border fund transfers to each other at the Singapore FinTech Festival today.

The PayNow-DuitNow linkage enables instant, secure and cost-effective P2P fund transfers and remittances between the two countries. This real-time payment systems linkage is also the first to include the participation of non-bank financial institutions from both countries, providing access to a broader group of users. Consumers of participating financial institutions ^[0] are now able to send and receive funds of up to S$1,000 or MYR3,000 daily by using the recipient’s mobile phone number or VPA.

The service will be made available to Singapore customers of Liquid Group, Maybank Singapore, OCBC and UOB under a phased approach, where these institutions will progressively increase the number of eligible user groups from today until end-January 2024. This is to support customers' familiarisation with the service. For users in Malaysia, the service will first be available for all CIMB, Maybank and TNG Digital users ^[0] , with other financial institutions gradually onboarded thereafter.

The PayNow-DuitNow linkage is an outcome of extensive collaboration among the central banks, payment system operators ^[0] , scheme owners, and participating financial institutions of both countries. It is an important milestone in improving the cost, speed, access and transparency of cross-border payments. Users from both countries will benefit from the linkage’s cost-effectiveness, inclusivity and accessibility.  It is also aligned with the objectives of the ASEAN Payment Connectivity Initiative and the G20 Roadmap for Enhancing Cross-border Payments. In 2022, P2P and remittance transactions between the two countries stood at S$2.3 billion/MYR7.8 billion.

MAS Managing Director Mr Ravi Menon said, “The PayNow-DuitNow linkage is the culmination of a shared aspiration by Singapore and Malaysia to facilitate cross-border payments between the two countries. This linkage represents another step towards ASEAN’s vision for regional payments interconnectivity.”

BNM Governor Datuk Abdul Rasheed Ghaffour said, “Cross-border payments that are fast, secure and cost-efficient can provide immense benefits especially for individuals and small businesses in countries with very close economic ties such as Malaysia and Singapore. The PayNow-DuitNow linkage enables us to reap these benefits towards our shared growth and prosperity, while laying the foundations for scalable cross-border payment networks across and beyond ASEAN.”

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1. ^[1] A Virtual Payment Address is an identifier used by Singapore non-bank financial institutions which are uniquely linked to a person’s bank account. An example of a LiquidPay VPA is +651234567#XNAP.

1. ^[2] Participants from Singapore are Liquid Group (non-bank financial institution), Maybank Singapore, OCBC and UOB. Participants from Malaysia are CIMB Bank Malaysia Berhad, Malayan Banking Berhad and TNG Digital Sdn. Bhd. (non-bank financial institution). Singapore’s DBS and Malaysia’s Hong Leong Bank will join at a later stage.

1. ^[3] For TNG Digital users, the service will be offered on phased approach with outbound service (i.e., Malaysia to Singapore) to be available immediately and inbound service (Singapore to Malaysia) to be offered in December 2023.

1. ^[4] Banking Computer Services Pte Ltd for Singapore and Payments Network for Malaysia.