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On Mar. 31, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) launched a cross-border QR code payment linkage between Singapore and Malaysia.

Scanning QR Codes

The payment linkage will allow customers of participating financial institutions to make retail payments by scanning NETS QR and DuitNow QR codes.

This can be done either in person by scanning physical QR codes displayed by merchants, or through online cross-border e-commerce transactions.

DBS Bank, OCBC Bank, and UOB are the participating institutions from Singapore, according to a March 31 press release from MAS.

MAS and BNM plan to expand the payment linkage to enable cross-border account-to-account fund transfers and remittances in the next phase, allowing user to make real-time fund transfers between Singapore and Malaysia using the just the recipient's mobile phone number.

This next phase is expected to be available by the end of 2023.

Payment collaboration

The payment linkage represents the culmination of collaboration efforts between both nation's industry players; such as the Network for Electronic Transfers (NETS) and the Association of Banks in Singapore, and Payments Network Malaysia (PayNet).

MAS's managing director Ravi Menon said the linkage was the latest addition to "Singapore's growing set of cross border linkages", and was "an important milestone in Asean's journey towards seamless regional payments connectivity".

BNM's governor Shamsiah Mohd Yunus agreed that the linkage was a significant step in "realising the vision of an ASEAN network of fast, efficient and interconnected retail payment systems", and that BNM would continue to work with partners to accelerate its "digitalisation agenda, working towards increase regional economic and financial integration".

Both said that it would be a boon to travellers and retailers, especially small retailers, in both countries.

Digital Asean

The linkage is part of an ongoing collaboration between Singapore and Malaysia to enhance cross border payments connectivity, such as when in 2018, Singaporeans could first use NETS cards in Malaysia.

Bilateral meetings between leaders from two countries often talk about efforts to increase cooperation especially in digitalisation and the digital economy, as when Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong met Malaysian PM Anwar Ibrahim earlier this year.

Closer digital integration is also one of Asean's most prominent goals, with recent Asean meetings often listing it as amongst its most important aims.

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Top image by Top image via NETS/Facebook, Duitnow.my