The move will enable businesses to access a larger market of consumers for receiving e-payments instantly and seamlessly.
Non-bank financial institutions (NFIs) that are licensed as major payment institutions under the Payment Services Act will have direct access to Singapore's retail payments infrastructure from February 2021, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) announced in a statement.
With NFIs able to connect directly to Fast and Secure Transfers (FAST) and PayNow via an API payment gateway, users of NFI e-wallets will be able to make real-time funds transfers between bank accounts and e-wallets as well as across different e-wallets, instead of using only debit or credit cards to top-up funds. Businesses that partner any of the 23 FAST or 9 PayNow banks, or e-wallets, will be able to receive real-time payments from other users of e-wallets or mobile banking applications that will be joining FAST or PayNow, MAS said.
Less-Cash Society
«Our vision to enable complete real-time payments interoperability will now become a reality. Adoption of e-payments will become even more simple for individuals and businesses,» Ravi Menon, MAS managing director, said in the statement.
FAST transaction volumes averaged more than 12.5 million per month in the third quarter of 2020, with PayNow transaction volumes accounting for almost half of all transactions, according to MAS.
«FAST and PayNow adoption rates have exceeded expectations and we are confident that the addition of new players will help accelerate the national path towards a less-cash economy,» Ong Ai-Boon, director of the Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS), added.
