Singapore and Thailand link real-time payment systems

The link is the first its kind in the world and comes after several years of collaboration, according to a joint statement of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Bank of Thailand (BOT).

Users will be able to transfer up to S$1,000 ($754) or THB25,000 ($803) each day between the two countries using mobile phones. The transfer will be complete within a few minutes.

The fees will be transparently displayed to senders before confirming their transfers. MAS said the participating banks have committed to benchmark their fees against the market.

The participating banks are three Singapore’s PayNow banks DBS Bank, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC) Bank and United Overseas Bank (UOB), as well as four banks in Thailand Bangkok Bank, Kasikorn Bank, Krung Thai Bank and Siam Commercial Bank.

According to MAS managing director Ravi Menon, MAS and BOT plan to “expand this bilateral linkage into a network of linked retail payment systems across the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)”.

Nicholas Hanna of Pinsent Masons MPillay, the Singapore joint law venture between MPillay and Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law, said: “Singapore, arguably the fintech hub of South East Asia, has yet again pioneered a new digital payment system across its shores to Thailand. Connecting financial trade between consumers habitual in these two countries, will permit millions of people to send money seamlessly across borders. Similar agreements with other nations cannot be far away.”