DBS PayLah! users can now make QR payments at more than 250,000 merchants across Taiwan, covering approximately two-thirds of the country’s TWQR merchant network.
DBS expects payment acceptance to expand across the full participating TWQR merchant network in 2027 as more providers join.
More than three million PayLah! users can use the service at night markets, restaurants and retail outlets without downloading another payment app or relying on cash.
DBS is the first Singapore bank to connect its customers to TWQR, adding Taiwan to its existing cross-border QR payment coverage through Indonesia’s QRIS, Malaysia’s DuitNow, Thailand’s PromptPay and UnionPay globally.
The rollout follows a cross-border payment initiative announced in April 2026 by Singapore’s NETS and Taiwan’s Financial Information Service Co. (FISC), which developed the TWQR network.
How DBS PayLah! payments work in Taiwan
PayLah! users can scan eligible TWQR codes from participating providers, including iPass Money, Taiwan Pay, PXPay Plus and Easy Wallet.
Merchants accepting these payments display the TWQR acceptance mark or QR payment notices bearing the TWQR label.
Customers need the latest version of PayLah! to make payments. Before confirming a transaction, the app displays the amount in Taiwan dollars (TWD), the applicable exchange rate and the final amount payable in Singapore dollars.
DBS to expand QR payment coverage in 2027
From 2027, PayLah! users will be able to scan QR codes at all participating TWQR merchants, including those accepting JKO Pay.
DBS also plans to introduce a merchant-scan-customer payment option, allowing major Taiwanese retailers to scan QR codes generated by PayLah! users.
The arrangement will also support payments in the opposite direction. From 2027, DBS customers in Taiwan will be able to use their digibank app to scan SGQR codes at participating merchants in Singapore.
DBS Bank Taiwan serves as a settlement agent bank for the NETS-TWQR linkage, supporting the settlement of cross-border transactions in Taiwan.
Chan Sow Han, Head of Payments and Unsecured Lending, Consumer Banking Group at DBS Singapore, said transaction volumes for the bank’s cross-border QR payment services grew 2.5 times year on year, while the number of unique users doubled.
“At DBS, we’re working with partners to bring more of these systems within reach of our customers, so that paying overseas feels as familiar and straightforward as it does at home,”
Chan said.
DBS will also offer cashback of up to S$3 to customers new to PayLah!’s overseas QR payment service.
Running from 16 November 2026 to 31 January 2027, the promotion covers QR payments in Taiwan, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia, with no minimum spending requirement.
Featured image credit: Edited by Fintech News Singapore, based on image by magnific via Magnific
