How to use UPI to receive money in Singapore?
Transfers of funds between India and Singapore are now possible using just mobile phones due to the tie-up between India's UPI and Singapore's PayNow facility. This article details everything you need to know about using UPI to receive money in Singapore.
India and Singapore have shared a strong bond over the years. Despite facing many ups and downs, both countries keep exploring new ways to strengthen their bilateral relations. Moving ahead for better tie-ups, India and Singapore have linked their respective digital payment systems, Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and PayNow. This linkage assumes significance since Singapore is an important destination for Indians. It will be now possible for people living in India to send money to people living in Singapore quickly and easily via this linkage. The Announcement
Governor of the Reserve Bank of India Shakktanta Das and Ravi Menon, Managing Director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) made this important announcement during an event also attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Singapore counterpart Lee Hsien Loong. What is UPI-PayNow Linkage?
Singapore is the third top country in terms of remittance that is received from Indians working outside the country. Providing an optimized and low-cost way of transferring money benefits everybody involved in this equation which includes the sender, receiver as well the countries involved. Singapore and India started this initiative in September 2021 and now, UPI-PayNow linkage is being touted as India's first and Singapore's second cross-border real-time linkage. Therefore this linkage is an important step towards faster, cheaper, and more transparent cross-border payments. What are UPI and PayNow?
UPI was introduced in India in 2016 and got a big boost due to the demonetization announced by the Indian PM in the same year. It has come a long way and now leads the charts in the number of transactions in both P2P and P2M. It has taken a big slice of the payment ecosystem from Visa and Mastercard and is still on a path of growth. You will be hard-pressed to find any shop in the Indian cities which doesn't accept UPI as a form of payment.
Similarly, Singapore has PayNow as its fastest payment system. This system helps the locals to make hassle-free payments. The service enables customers to transact with banks or non-bank financial institutions in the country. All they need is their mobile number, Singapore Foreign Identification Number (FIN), or National Registration Identity Card (NRIC) to make the payments with the help of VPA.How to Transfer Funds?
Featuring cloud-based infrastructure and participation from non-bank financial institutions, the PayNow-UPI linkage is the first of its kind in the world. UPI apps such as Google Pay, Paytm, and other similar payment aggregator systems are available for people to transfer funds to Singaporeans quickly. When sending money to Singapore via UPI, users will need to enter the recipient's PayNow mobile number or VPA. VPAs and UPI identities are identifiers that are uniquely associated with individual bank accounts.
According to the RBI, Indians are currently allowed to transfer up to SDG 1,000 (about Rs 62,000) a day. Sending money to India using Singapore PayNow requires a recipient's UPI identity. (UPI ID)Which Are the Indian Banks Eligible for Remittance?
As a start, SBI, IOB, Indian Bank, ICICI Bank, and Indian Overseas Bank will facilitate both inward and outward remittances, while Axis Bank and DBS India will facilitate inward remittances. DBS-Singapore and Liquid Group (a non-bank financial institution) will provide the service to Singaporeans. The linkage will be expanded to include more banks in the future.
The Benefits
The direct and quick transfer of funds has been made easier than ever with this UPI-PayNow linkage in just a few simple steps. Be it a migrant worker or a student, this is something that is especially going to benefit the Indian Diaspora in Singapore who can easily receive or send money to India.
This applies to Singaporeans living in or visiting India as well who can transfer money back to their home country quickly without facing any challenges. Singapore is home to approximately 6.5 lakh people of Indian origin, according to the document Population of Overseas Indians (2022) published by the Ministry of external affairs. Final Words
Moreover, the linkage will not only boost India-Singapore relations but will also promote cross-border payments between ASEAN and India, enabling digital payments across borders.
