As the world’s largest diaspora, more than 30 million Indians reside outside the country. Despite the pandemic and its economic impact, India still received $87 billion in remittances in 2021. In the early 80s and 90s, expats could only exercise the option of physically visiting money transfer operators and agents to send money to their families from a foreign country to India, whereas Indian students pursing overseas education would experience similar situations for receiving money from their family members to take care of their well-being and sustenance. The differences in the time zones, high currency conversion, multiple compliance checks, unforeseen delays, high charges, and the uncertainty of receipt of payment were very evident challenges that payers and payees faced in international remittance. Fragmented remittance information coupled with the extensive checks for anti-money laundering and fraudulent activities have been some of the common reasons for delays in remittances.
With the evolution of customer preferences and technologies, cost, compliance, speed, and interoperability emerged as distinctive factors focusing on compelling needs such as convenience, security, and seamlessness. At the same time, interoperability will play a crucial role in improving the speed, flexibility, and timing of remittances. To address the difficulties that customers are facing, UPI Cross Border Real-Time Payments is making remittances – Easy.
PayNow SG provides a peer-to-peer funds transfer service available to customers of Banks and Non-Bank Financial Institutions (NFIs) in Singapore. PayNow SG offers an enhanced funds transfer experience that enables customers to send and receive Singapore dollars just by using their mobile number, or Virtual Payment Address (VPA), instantly. The sender no longer needs to know the recipient’s bank account or e-wallet provider and account number when transferring money via PayNow Singapore.
The linkage provides a convenient (24/7), real-time, secure, and cost-effective means for customers of participating Banks and Non-Bank Financial Institutions (NFIs) to transfer funds across borders. An Indian UPI user (who is a participant in the linkage) will be able to send money to a user of Singapore’s PayNow member (who is a participant in the UPI-PayNow linkage) using the Singapore user’s mobile number or Virtual Payment Address (VPA).
Conversely, a user of Singapore’s PayNow (who is a participant in the UPI-PayNow SG linkage) will be able to send money to an Indian UPI user (who is a participant in the UPI-PayNow linkage) using the Indian User UPI ID.
