India, Singapore move towards Instant money transfers

India and Singapore have completed technical preparations to link their fast payment systems UPI and PayNow to enable fund transfers between the two countries instantaneously and at low cost, a move which is aimed at benefitting migrant workers.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and Singapore's central bank, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), have been working on linking the United Payments Interface (UPI) and PayNow, a project that is expected to roll out very soon.

"Singapore wants to connect its PayNow with UPI and that project will finish sometime in the next few months when that happens anybody sitting in Singapore will be able to send money to their family members in India," India's High Commissioner in Singapore P Kumaran said.

The remarks of India's ambassador to the city-state came ahead of the ASEAN and related summits, which kicked off in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh and is witnessing the participation of leaders of the 10-member regional bloc.

PayNow is similar to India's homegrown card payment network RuPay.

(ANI)