Thailand, Singapore link real-time payment systems

JAKARTA, Indonesia

Users of Singapore’s PayNow and Thailand’s PromptPay will now be able to transfer money across the countries as the two real-time payment systems have been linked, authorities announced on Thursday.

In a joint statement, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Bank of Thailand (BOT) said the link is the first of its kind in the world and has come about after several years of extensive collaboration between the two sides.

Users will be able to transfer up to $1,000 Singapore dollars ($750) or 25,000 Thai baht ($800) daily between the countries, using just a mobile phone number, the statement said.

Ravi Menon, managing director of MAS, said the objective was to work with counterparts in member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to form a network of linked retail-time payment systems across the region.

“With the rise of the digital economy, we want to empower individuals and businesses in the region with simple, swift, and secure cross-border payments through just a few clicks on their mobile phones,” he said.

Sethaput Suthiwartnarueput, governor of BOT, also shared a similar view: “With the success of PromptPay, our domestic payment system, we have sought to enhance cross-border linkages with ASEAN and other countries and have launched our QR cross-border payment connectivity with Japan, Lao PDR, Cambodia and Vietnam.”