No more nicknames on PayNow, masked names are default: What you need to know

Starting today (Jun. 6), PayNow users will no longer be able to see or set nicknames when sending or receiving money.

Say goodbye to "676767", "giga chad" or "scubaaaaa".

Instead, masked names are the unchangeable default.

But why, how and what now?

Here's the stuff you need to know about the new feature change to PayNow.

Change? What change?

Starting Jun. 6, 2026, the PayNow nickname feature for retail customers will no longer be available.

Read this if you need more context:

So, instead of "676767" or whatever the latest Gen-Alpha slang word you might be using as your PayNow nickname, PayNow will now only display selected letters of your name to a payer during a PayNow transfer.

For example, if your name is Jonathan Tan Jun Jie, PayNow will display JonatXXX TaX JuX JiX instead.

This applies to those who have not set a nickname as well.

About 30 per cent of PayNow users are currently using nicknames.

Why the change? I loved being "bling daddy" on PayNow!

Too many scammers.

Scammers have been exploiting customisable nicknames to impersonate legitimate businesses, government agencies, or even your friends to trick victims into transferring money.

Think you're sending money to your secondary school friend Alysha? Nope. It might be someone pretending to be Alysha.

Discontinuing the PayNow nickname feature removes one way in which scammers can trick victims.

Why not use full names then? Why more Xs than my ex?

The nickname option was previously available to PayNow users who preferred more privacy.

Displaying partial names seeks to strike a balance between a reasonable level of privacy and giving sufficient confidence that the payee is the intended recipient, which helps to fight impersonation scams.

"X" was chosen to hide certain letters because it is a generally recognised alphabet to represent something concealed or misleading.

It also has a visual resemblance to a cross-out mark.

The name display format was tested through industry and consumer studies.

By the way, Hong Kong's PayNow-equivalent system also displays a partial name.

Ok, so what about those people who wanted privacy? Are we taking that away from them?

The reason for the change is not to shift away from privacy, but to remove scammers' ability to exploit the nickname feature.

The display of a partial name will still afford a reasonable level of privacy.

At the same time, there is enhanced privacy for the majority of PayNow users whose full names are currently displayed.

Fine. Do I need to do anything?

Nope. Your nickname is already gone, and the masked full name is already in use.

However, you just need to get used to seeing the changes to your payee's nickname when making payments to him or her.

Again, here's what PayNow display names might look like now.

All other aspects of receiving and transferring money via PayNow remain unchanged.

Omg. Does this mean I will now be safe from scams?

There is no magic bullet for the plaguing issue of scams.

It's best to remain vigilant.

The discontinuation of PayNow nicknames is part of a comprehensive set of anti-scam safeguards, including the setting of transaction limits, cooling-off periods, fraud surveillance and ongoing consumer education.

All these are continually enhanced and fine-tuned to combat the ever-changing ways and methods employed by scheming scammers.

Omg again. What if the scammers make use of the new display format to harvest my name for scam purposes?

There are already safeguards in the PayNow system to detect and prevent mass harvesting of names.

Participating institutions continually monitor the scam landscape, and while the risk of name harvesting is not new, these safeguards have been stepped up in light of the name format change.