India and Singapore are set to connect their fast payment portals in a bid to advance cross-border transactions, currently estimated at $1 billion annually.
- The Reserve Bank of India said its Unified Payments Interface with be linked with Singapore’s PayNow by July 2022. The integration will allow users to transfer funds instantly and at a low cost while remaining on their systems.
- Both UPI and PayNow offer instant online transfers, and the connection of the two entities is expected to boost trade, travel, and remittance flows between the two Asian countries.
- The two parties earlier partnered to make cards and QR codes interoperable, with Indian tourists in Singapore sending home some $200 million from January to September 2020.
- UPI has seen a surge in digital payments amid the pandemic, leading the digitalization of transactions in India given its services which cover retail payment services and onboarding of all entities.
PayNow users can instantly send and receive funds from Singaporean banks and e-wallets through their mobile numbers.
Source: Bloomberg
