Singapore and the Philippines Ink Deal for Cross-Border QR Payments Linkage
by Fintech News Singapore November 8, 2021The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) today signed a deal to to facilitate interoperable payments between the two countries.
The enhanced Fintech Cooperation Agreement (CA) builds on the earlier 2017 agreement to broaden the scope of fintech collaboration and partnership between MAS and BSP.
The CA will facilitate the linkage of both countries’ real-time and QR payment systems, to provide instant, seamless and low-cost cross-border payments.
Both central banks will also explore multilateral interoperability of these projects, in keeping with regional efforts to establish further linkages within ASEAN and with countries outside the region.
Singapore had similarly announced plans since the past year to form cross-border payment linkages with Malaysia, India, and Thailand.
MAS had also release a blueprint in collaboration with the Bank for International Settlements to enhance the global payments network connectivity via multilateral linkages of countries’ national retail payment systems titled Project Nexus.
Ravi Menon
Ravi Menon, Managing Director of MAS said,
“The enhancements to the MAS-BSP FinTech Cooperation Agreement will help fast track payments connectivity between Singapore and the Philippines.
Critically, the linking of our QR and real-time payment systems also marks a concrete step towards the vision of an ASEAN network of interconnected real time payment systems.”
Benjamin E. Diokno
Benjamin E. Diokno, Governor of BSP said,
“The BSP is taking the initial step in linking the Philippine payment system with those of our ASEAN neighbors, beginning with Singapore.
Effectively linking our QR and real-time payment systems will enhance the safety and efficiency of cross-border payments through the smoother and seamless international transfer of funds, ultimately promoting the financial welfare of Filipinos that regularly use cross-border payment services.”
Featured image: Edited from Unsplash
