Real-Time Payment Systems Are Now Available Between Malaysia and Singapore

Cross-border real-time payments and fund transfers are now possible between Malaysia and Singapore, as the Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) have launched a linkage between the countries’ leading payment systems.

Unveiled at the Singapore FinTech Festival, the initiative will allow users of Malaysia’s DuitNow and Singapore’s PayNow to execute live cross-border fund transfers. This enables “instant, secure, and cost-effective" fund transfers and remittances, BNM said in a press statement.

The service will initially be available for all Maybank, TNG Digital, and CIMB users in Malaysia, while OCBC, UOB, Maybank, and Liquid Group’s users will be able to use the service in phases. Other financial institutions are expected to join in soon.

With the initiative, users of the said financial institutions will be able to send and receive funds up to RM3,000 or S$1,000.

“The PayNow-DuitNow linkage is the culmination of a shared aspiration by Singapore and Malaysia to facilitate cross-border payments between our two countries. This linkage represents another step toward ASEAN’s vision for regional payments interconnectivity,” said Ravi Menon, managing director at MAS.

The DuitNow-PayNow linkage follows BNM and MAS’ cross-border QR payment initiative, which was launched in March this year.