SINGAPORE

Source: IMF, International Financial Statistics, June 2024.

• The Singapore central bank is the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS -www.mas.gov.sg).

Bank supervision

• Singapore banks are supervised by the MAS.

• Lifting fees, most typically per item-based charges and/or subscription fees, are applied on payments between resident and non-resident bank accounts.

(Please note that the  below is all based on what is available in Singapore but does not reflect BNPP's capabilities.)

• Credit transfers are used by companies to pay salaries and suppliers, and for treasury payments.
• Credit transfers are available as both paper-based and electronic payment instruments.
• High-value and urgent domestic SGD-denominated credit transfers can be settled in real time via MEPS+.
• Low-value, non-urgent and high-volume credit transfers can be settled via the IBG on a same day basis or up to three business days.
• Low-value credit transfers can also be settled via FAST (SGD 200,000 or less). FAST can be used 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Thirty banks and seven non-financial institutions participate in FAST.
• Low-value credit transfers can also be made via PayNow (SGD 200,000 or less) on a near real-time basis. Payments are settled via FAST. PayNow has adopted the Singapore Quick Response Code (SGQR) specifications, enabling businesses to collect payments via the service through QR codes. There are nine bank participants in in PayNow, and three non-bank financial institutions. There are twenty-one bank participants in PayNow, and five non-bank institutions. Over 80% of individuals and businesses are registered on PayNow.
• PayNow Corporate enables entities such as businesses to pay and receive SGD funds instantly with the linking of the Unique Entity Number (UEN) to their Singapore bank account. PayNow corporate registrations totalled 240,000 by end 2020.
• As of February 2021, eligible non-bank financial institutions have had direct access to FAST and PayNow, enabling users of e-wallets to make real-time transfers between bank accounts and e-wallets as well as across different e-wallets.
• Cross-border transfers can be made via SWIFT and settled through correspondent banks abroad.
• In 2020, the volume and value of credit transfers increased 24.4% and 10.8% respectively, to 255 million transactions, with a value of SGD 664.3 billion.

In 2021, the Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS) launched the eGIRO service that fully digitises the current paper-based GIRO process.

• The cheque is a popular cashless payment instrument, used by both consumers and companies.
• Cheques are truncated into electronic items before being settled on a next-day basis.
• Singapore has two cheque truncation systems: one for SGD-denominated cheques (SGDCTS), the other for USD-denominated cheques (USDCTS).
• Final settlement of SGD and USD-denominated cheques takes place via MEPS+.
• In July 2023, MAS announced that all corporate cheques will be eliminated by end-2025 while individuals will still be able to use cheques for a period after 2025.

• Card payments are increasingly popular, especially for retail transactions. There were 7.0 million credit cards in circulation at the end of December 2023.
• Contactless payment cards are issued and their use increasing.
• Visa-branded payment cards are the most widely issued, although MasterCard, American Express and Diners Club credit cards are also available.
• All card payments are processed via NETS on a same-day basis.
• All cards issued have EMV chips.
• In 2023, the volume of card payments grew 21.6% year on year to 1.98 million transactions. The total value also grew 13.7% to SGD 1.41 billion.

• There are three main ATM networks in Singapore: the proprietary DBS-POSB network, the atm5 network, which is used by six foreign banks, and the NETS network, which is operated by MasterCard and used by the United Overseas Bank and the Overseas-Chinese Banking Corp. The networks are not interoperable.
• All payments are processed via NETS on a same-day basis.
• All ATMs and POS terminals are EMV-compliant.
• The MEPS operated Shared ATM Network switch connects all ATMs in Singapore.

• The dominant electronic wallet schemes are the NETS operated CashCard and FlashPay schemes, as well as an independent EZ-Link card.
• Single and multi-purpose stored-value cards are both available.
• Card-based e-money transactions fell 33.8% and 36.7% in volume and value terms respectively in 2020, on 2019 figures.
• Mobile wallets are widely accepted throughout Singapore due to the SGQR code. Popular e-payment methods include GrabPay, AliPay Nets and PayLah.
• E-money payments are settled on a next-day basis via NETS.
• In 2023, E-money transactions saw a slight decline of 6.8% in terms of volume to 2.22 million transactions compared to the previous year. The total value grew by 11.5% to SGD 2.4 billion in the same period.

• The professionals in the BNP Paribas Global Trade Solutions (GTS) team in Singapore offer both local and regional support across Asia Pacific. GTS in Singapore provides a wide range of product offerings from traditional trade products to supply chain management solutions complemented by excellent service delivery by ISO-certified middle and back offices. With strong product expertise and in-depth knowledge of local market requirements, BNP Paribas has become a leading trade finance bank in the region.

• Singapore has 27 implemented free trade agreements in place with more than 30 trading partners, including USA, China, Australia, the GCC, the TPSEP, EFTA and Japan.
• Singapore is a signatory of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). The CPTPP came into force in December 2018.
• Singapore is a signatory of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RECP). The country ratified the agreement in April 2021.
• ASEAN has signed free trade agreements (FTAs) with Australia, China, Japan, Hong Kong, India, New Zealand and South Korea.

Source: IMF, International Financial Statistics, June 2021.