Malaysia & Singapore team to boost Cross-border Payments connectivity

By Gloria Mathias

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) have jointly launched the real-time payment system linkage between Singapore’s PayNow and Malaysia’s DuitNow.

The initiative follows the QR payment linkage announced on March 31, 2023, which enabled cross-border QR payments to merchants.

MAS Managing Director Ravi Menon and BNM Governor 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 system linkage also includes the participation of non-bank financial institutions from both countries, providing access to a broader group of users.

The service will be available to Singapore customers of Liquid Group, Maybank Singapore, OCBC and UOB under a phased approach, where these institutions will increase the number of eligible user groups. For users in Malaysia, the service will first be available for all CIMB, Maybank and TNG Digital users with other financial institutions gradually onboarded thereafter.

The PayNow-DuitNow linkage is an outcome of extensive collaboration among the central banks, payment system operators, scheme owners, and participating financial institutions of both countries. Users from both countries will benefit from the linkage’s cost-effectiveness, inclusivity and accessibility.

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.”