First global payment link set up between Singapore and Thailand

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Bank of Thailand (BOT) have launched the linkage of Singapore’s PayNow and Thailand’s PromptPay real-time retail payment systems.

It is the first time such a linkage has been formed globally.

Customers of participating banks in Singapore and Thailand will now be able to transfer amounts up to S$1,000 (US$ 750) or THB25,000 (US$ 800) daily across the two countries with just a mobile number.

Participating banks includes three of Singapore’s PayNow banks – DBS Bank, OCBC Bank, and UOB – along with four banks in Thailand: Bangkok Bank, Kasikorn Bank, Krung Thai Bank, and Siam Commercial Bank.

Information fields such as the recipient’s full name and bank account details, as with normal remittance solutions, are no longer required. The funds will flow seamlessly and securely between customers’ accounts in Singapore and Thailand.

Compared to the average of  one to two working days needed for most cross-border remittance solutions, the transfers through the PayNow-PromptPay linkage will instead be completed within a matter of minutes.

MAS and BOT will progressively scale the PayNow-PromptPay linkage to include more participants, and extend the transfer limits to facilitate business transactions. 

“The PayNow-PromptPay linkage is only the beginning. MAS’ shared objective with BOT is to work with our ASEAN counterparts to expand this bilateral linkage into a network of linked retail payment systems across ASEAN,” said Mr Ravi Menon, Managing Director of MAS.

“With the success of PromptPay, our domestic payment system, we have sought to enhance cross-border linkages with ASEAN and other countries and have launched our QR cross-border payment connectivity with Japan, Lao PDR, Cambodia and Vietnam,” said Dr Sethaput Suthiwartnarueput, Governor of BOT.