The Monetary Authority of Singapore has posted an update on the Singapore Payments Council. According to MAS, the COuncil has endorsed the specification for a common Singapore Quick Response Code (SG QR) that can accept electronic payments by both domestic and international payment schemes, e-wallets, and banks. The new SG QR was developed by an industry task-force co-led by the MAS and Infocomm Media Development Authority.
“The SG QR is an unprecedented national initiative supported by the industry to provide consumers and merchants with a seamless and streamlined e-payment experience. It will be progressively rolled out across Singapore by payment service providers through 2018,” said Sopnendu Mohanty, Chief Fintech Officer of MAS.
Said to be the first of its kind globally, the SG QR includes protocols customized for Singapore, building on the QR specifications of EMVCo, a consortium of international payment plans.
EMVCo sets standards that are utilized internationally by banks, merchants, processors and vendors. The SG QR optimizes the number of e-payment schemes it contains by improving the efficiency of processing merchant relevant data.
MAS says the SG QR will be adopted and deployed by payment services providers in Singapore through 2018. For merchants currently accepting multiple QRs, payment service providers are developing a governance process for multiple payment schemes to be consolidated into SG QR.
Payment service providers have also committed to update their mobile payment apps for consumers to read the SG QR. The Association of Banks in Singapore will include PayNow as part of the SG QR for person-to-person fund transfers. All seven participating PayNow banks will offer added convenience by allowing their customer to transfer funds via PayNow using QR codes.
The SG QR Taskforce, consists of twenty members from payment schemes, issuers, acquirers, banks and relevant Government Agencies.