India and Singapore have apparently concluded the technical preparations to link their fast payment systems. UPI and PayNow may soon be available to users in order to initiate smooth fund transfers between the two countries instantaneously and at low cost. This move will significantly be beneficial for migrant workers.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and Singapore’s central bank, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), have been working on linking the United Payments Interface (UPI) and PayNow, a project that is expected to roll out very soon. “Singapore wants to connect its PayNow with UPI and that project will finish sometime in the next few months when that happens anybody sitting in Singapore will be able to send money to their family members in India,” India’s High Commissioner in Singapore P Kumaran said.
Money transfer between both the countries is expected to take place with the help of numbers. As soon as the project gets formalized, Prime Minister Modi will make the official announcement.
“For us, the practical implications sitting here is that any worker who wants to send small amounts can do so at a fraction of the money they are being charged by the standard money transfer companies. So it is going to be a big benefit to those who instead of sending money in one go can do so in small pieces and it will still cost less,” the Indian envoy to Singapore said.
PayNow is homogenous to India’s home grown card payment network RuPay. Apart from this, PayNow has linkages with other countries of Asean, which makes it easier for people to buy and sell within the region.
“PayNow also has similar initiatives with other countries in Asean so when PayNow connects this side with India and that side with Asean countries they can go from India to any Asean country through Singapore. They currently have a project with the Philippines, the Indian ambassador said.
