What is PayNow? How It Works in Singapore

PayNow is a funds transfer service in Singapore. It lets you send Singapore dollars to someone using their mobile number, NRIC/FIN or, for businesses, their UEN, instead of a bank account number. It was set up by the Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS) with the banking industry.

How PayNow works

To receive money, you register a PayNow proxy (your mobile number, NRIC/FIN or UEN) with your bank. To send money, you enter the other person's proxy in your banking app. The app looks up the registered name and shows part of it, so you can check you are paying the right person before you confirm. Both sides need an account with a participating bank, and the transfer is made in SGD.

According to bank pages such as DBS and UOB, PayNow is offered by 21 banks and 6 non-bank financial institutions, so it works across the major local banks. Check your own bank for whether it is supported.

Why people use it

• Fast: transfers between participating banks are normally near-instant.
• Simple: you do not need to ask for an account number.
• Name check: the partial name shown before you pay helps catch wrong numbers.
• PayNow QR: many shops, hawkers and online sellers show a PayNow QR code that you scan with your banking app.

How to register

1. Open your bank's mobile banking app (or internet banking).
2. Find the PayNow option and choose to register.
3. Select your mobile number and/or NRIC/FIN as the proxy, and the account that should receive funds.
4. Confirm. Your bank will usually verify with a one-time password or app authentication.

The steps differ slightly by bank. A mobile number or NRIC/FIN can only be linked to one bank account at a time, so registering at a new bank moves it away from the old one.

Transfer limits and security

The network-wide cap is S$200,000 per day, according to DBS, and each bank also applies its own daily transfer limit that you can usually set in the app. UOB states that ad hoc PayNow transfers above S$1,000 cumulative per day need additional transaction signing. Your own limit and authentication rules depend on your bank, so check the app.

PayNow itself does not remove scam risk. Never pay someone you have not verified, never share one-time passwords, and check the name that appears before confirming.

PayNow for businesses

Businesses with a UEN can register it as a PayNow proxy with a participating bank and receive payments through a PayNow QR code or UEN transfer. Reasons shops and sellers use it include:

• customers can pay with the banking app they already have;
• there is no card terminal needed to take a payment;
• fees depend on the bank or payment provider used, so ask yours rather than assume a figure.

Businesses should match each payment against an order, since a bank transfer gives no automatic receipt unless the bank or payment provider supplies one.

Sources

• DBS: PayNow (dbs.com.sg)
• UOB: Digital payments FAQs and PayNow corporate FAQ (uob.com.sg)