November 20, 2023
KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia’s DuitNow and Singapore’s PayNow have now been connected with real-time payment systems linkage, owing to the collaborative efforts of Bank Negara and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), as well as the countries’ payment system operators and participating institutions.
The DuitNow-PayNow linkage enables instant, secure and cost-effective P2P fund transfers and remittances between the two countries, said Bank Negara in a statement.
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.
The initiative follows the QR payment linkage announced on March 31, 2023, which enabled cross-border QR payments to merchants.
Consumers of participating financial institutions are now able to send and receive funds of up to RM3,000 or S$1,000 daily by using the recipient’s mobile phone number or VPA.
For users in Malaysia, the service will first be available for all Maybank, CIMB and TNG Digital’s users3, with other financial institutions gradually onboarded thereafter.
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.
“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 DuitNow-PayNow 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,” said Bank Negara governor Datuk Abdul Rasheed Ghaffour.
The DuitNow-PayNow linkage is 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 RM7.8bil/S$2.3 bil, said the central bank.