India-Singapore link Digital Payments UPI and PAYNOW

February 21, 2023

UPI is the mobile payment method in India. Similarly, PAYNOW is a mobile payment method in Singapore. The countries have planned to link these two mobile payment methods. The linking was done virtually inaugurated by the RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das and the MD of the Monetary Authority of Singapore Ravi Menon.

Significance

With the linkage, the residents of both countries can transfer money at faster rates. Migrant workers and students will be benefitted the most.

G20

The Linkage of UPI and Pay Now was a part of the G20 priorities. One of the key focuses of the 2023 G20 summit is on cheaper, inclusive finance, and transparent cross-border payments.

Benefits

The linkage enables person-to-person transfer and person-to-merchant transfer between the countries. Thus, it helps in boosting trade, foreign remittance, etc. Above all the e-commerce businesses will be benefited largely. As instant funds shall be received through this linkage, online shopping becomes easy. Also, fund transfer from an e-wallet is also possible.

Background

Indians contribute to 9% of Singapore’s citizens. Apart from this, there are Indian students and businessmen living on visas. Tamil is one of the official languages of Singapore. Other official languages are Malay, English, and Mandarin Chinese. The migration of Indians to Singapore started thousand years back. Tamil people migrated to the island during the Chola dynasty rule. Trade was the main reason for the Indians to travel to the country back then.

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