SMEs in Singapore urged to use PayNow-UPI scheme for biz deals with India

Singapore PM Lee Hsien Loong and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi witnessed the launch of the cross-border connectivity of real-time digital payment systems via video conferencing on Tuesday

The Singapore Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SICCI) has urged Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the city-state to use the PayNow-UPI linkage for business dealings with India for ease of payment.

SICCI Chairman Neil Parekh, while welcoming the launch of the linkage of India's Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and Singapore's PayNow on Tuesday, also emphasised that the SMEs stand to benefit from the launch of the cross-border real-time digital payment system.

The launch is timely as both countries have resumed normalcy, and Singapore continues to see a steady and high influx of Indian entrepreneurs coming to Singapore for business delegation meetings with their counterparts and our Chamber, Parekh said.

Small and medium enterprises stand to gain with this launch of real-time payment, and SICCI strongly urges SMEs who have business dealings with India to use the scheme for ease of payment, Parekh told PTI.

Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi witnessed the launch of the cross-border connectivity of real-time digital payment systems via video conferencing on Tuesday.

"The PayNow-UPI linkage will offer cheaper, faster, and safer cross-border retail payments and remittances, for businesses and individuals alike, directly between bank accounts or e-wallets," Singapore's Prime Minister's Office said in a statement.

Parekh, who attended the launch, congratulated the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for the launch.

"I want to congratulate Ravi Menon (Managing Director of MAS) and Shaktikanta Das (Governor of the RBI) for finalising the details and launching the scheme during India's Chairmanship of the G20," Parekh said.

I was delighted to discuss the real-time payment scheme with Das when he addressed our members during a fireside chat organised by SICCI, he added.

Das addressed SICCI members in Singapore last July.

The PayNow-UPI linkage is the world's first real-time payment systems linkage to use a scalable cloud-based infrastructure which can accommodate future increases in the volume of remittance traffic, according to a MAS release.

The service is available to Singapore customers of DBS Bank and Liquid group under a phased approach, where these institutions will progressively increase the number of eligible user groups and transaction limits from Tuesday till the end of March 2023.

Indian customers of all participating Indian banks will be able to receive funds through the service from the onset, the MAS release said.

The move will help the Indian diaspora in Singapore, especially migrant workers and students, through the instantaneous and low-cost transfer of money from Singapore to India and vice-versa.