In today’s digital age, the world is moving towards the cashless economy and digital transactions. In regard to this, PayNow Corporate in Singapore has taken a big leap forward by launching cashless services that will allow businesses and government agencies to receive or pay Singapore dollar instantly. From 13th August 2018 onwards, PayNow services will be live to everyone in Singapore. With the help of these services, the customers will be able to make payments to the entities having establishment unique number for any purchase made by them just by scanning the QR code.
Benefits of PayNow Services
The PayNow services will bring incredible cost benefits to merchants and consumers apart from the convenience. The users who are already using PayNow to pay individuals can also use it to pay for the good and services they purchase from retail stores. In addition, the PayNow Corporate also allows paying and receiving money to and from the Government.
PayNow will reduce the dependence of people on cash and cheques. Now the businesses can use the PayNow Corporate and scan the QR code to make a payment right from their bank account. It will save time and cost as the cheques take around 2 days to clear and Giro takes up to 3 days. Moreover, this facility of instant fund transfer will be available 24*7.
Response of Businesses and Government Agencies towards PayNow Services
The earlier e-payment services were more focussed on the consumers. But with PayNow service, the focus is shifting towards businesses too and their participation in the movement is incredible. According to the reports from banks, the response of the businesses towards the PayNow Corporate service is overwhelming. More and more businesses are signing up for the PayNow Corporate service.
According to DBS Bank report, around 50,000 small and medium-sized enterprises are waiting to enroll for the PayNow Corporate service by the end of the next year. While many firms are optimistic about the advantages of the new service, there are many other firms which are waiting for the actual rollout to see how the system pans out.
Apart from the business enterprises, Government agencies have also shown interest in adopting PayNow Corporate to provide convenience for customers while conducting over the counter transactions. In addition, General Insurer AIG shall also introduce this service to the travel insurance customers for a better experience.
There are seven participating banks that will give this new service, they are Citibank, Standard Chartered Bank, Maybank, OCBC, DBS/POSB, HSBC and United Overseas Bank (UOB).
PayNow Corporate is a great step considering Singapore’s ambition to become cheque-free by 2025 and reduce the number of ATM transaction significantly by the year 2020.
