Answer

What is PayNow?

Updated October 2026. Evergreen page — refreshed in place as facts change.

Launched

Jul 2017

FAST, underneath it, since 2014

Scheme owner

ABS

Association of Banks in Singapore

Speed

Seconds

Over FAST between participating banks

Hours

24/7/365

Weekends and public holidays included

Limit

S$200K

FAST maximum per transaction; banks set lower

Identifier

Proxy

Mobile, NRIC/FIN or UEN; or SGQR

Volume

500M

FAST transactions in 2024, S$662B (MAS)

Who can use it

People & firms

Businesses via PayNow Corporate since 2018

PayNow is how people in Singapore pay each other without asking for a bank account number. Launched by the Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS) in July 2017, PayNow lets anyone with an account at a participating bank send Singapore dollars to a mobile number, an NRIC or FIN, or a company's UEN, and the money arrives in seconds over FAST, the real-time interbank network that carried about 500 million transactions worth S$662 billion in 2024 (MAS). This page explains PayNow and FAST, how a transfer moves, the limits and costs, Singapore's scam safeguards, and how a US business pays a supplier in Singapore.

What is PayNow, and how is it different from FAST?

FAST (Fast And Secure Transfers) is the network: since 2014 it has moved Singapore-dollar transfers between participating banks in real time, addressed by bank and account number, at any hour. PayNow is the addressing layer on top. It keeps a central directory that maps a proxy — a mobile number or NRIC/FIN for people, a UEN for businesses — to the account its owner chose, so the payer only needs the proxy, and the payment then travels over FAST.

PayNow began with person-to-person transfers in July 2017. PayNow Corporate added businesses and government agencies on August 13, 2018, letting them receive to their UEN, and SGQR, Singapore's single QR code standard introduced the same year, put PayNow on shop counters and invoices. FAST volume grew 31% in 2024, to about 500 million transactions (MAS).

PayNow also connects abroad for individuals. Linkages with Thailand's PromptPay (2021), India's UPI (2023) and Malaysia's DuitNow (2023) let customers of participating banks send cross-border transfers by phone number. They carry low limits and are built for personal remittances, not supplier payments.

How does a PayNow transfer move?

PayNow resolves the proxy first and shows the payer who will receive the money before anything moves. After that, it is an ordinary FAST transfer between two banks, credited within seconds.

How fast is PayNow, and when does it run?

PayNow and FAST transfers are credited within seconds, 24 hours a day, including weekends and public holidays. Singapore's other interbank options run on business days: interbank GIRO, used for bills, payroll and recurring debits, takes a few business days, and MEPS+, the Monetary Authority of Singapore's real-time gross settlement system, handles high-value transfers during its business-day hours.

Singapore is 12 hours ahead of New York for most of the year, so time zones work against an ordinary wire: by the time a US bank's wire desk opens on Monday morning, it is Monday night in Singapore. A FAST payment released on Saturday night in New York reaches a Singapore supplier's account on Sunday morning, local time.

What are PayNow's limits and costs?

FAST caps a single transfer at S$200,000, and PayNow inherits that ceiling. Within it, banks set their own limits, and each bank's app carries a separate PayNow daily limit that customers can adjust, typically set conservatively by default for personal accounts as part of Singapore's anti-scam design.

For individuals, PayNow and FAST transfers are typically free at Singapore's banks. Business accounts may pay per transaction depending on the bank and plan, and receiving through PayNow Corporate is priced by each bank. Transfers above S$200,000 go by MEPS+ or as a regular interbank transfer.

What do you need to send or receive a PayNow payment?

Within Singapore, a proxy: the recipient's mobile number or NRIC/FIN, or for a business its UEN — the 9- or 10-character Unique Entity Number every registered entity in Singapore has, such as 201912345K. Scanning an SGQR or PayNow QR code fills in the proxy and, on an invoice, the amount and reference as well.

A payment from abroad usually can't use a proxy at all, because PayNow's directory serves payers at Singapore banks. Cross-border payouts are addressed the FAST way instead: the bank, the account number and the bank's SWIFT code, which is exactly what the payout form below asks for. If the supplier's account holds several currencies, ask for the number of its Singapore-dollar account specifically.

How does PayNow protect against scams?

Before a PayNow transfer is confirmed, the payer sees the name registered to the proxy — for a UEN, the entity's name — which is the check against a mistyped number or a fake business. FAST transfers are final once credited, so the rest of Singapore's protections work before and around the payment.

The Shared Responsibility Framework, which took effect on December 16, 2024, gives banks and telcos specific duties to stop phishing scams and makes them share losses when they fall short. Among the bank duties: a 12-hour cooling-off period after a new device or digital token is activated, notifications on outgoing transfers, a 24/7 channel for reporting fraud, and a self-service 'kill switch' that freezes an account. Businesses paying in Singapore can add their own controls:

• Pay a company's UEN or business account, not an individual's phone number.
• Check that the entity name shown matches the supplier's registered name on the invoice.
• Treat a request to pay a new number or account as unverified until you have confirmed it by phone.
• Use your bank's kill switch immediately if you suspect your banking credentials were phished.

PayNow vs SWIFT, GIRO and FedNow

PayNow and FAST are Singapore's FedNow: instant, final and always on. The S$200,000 cap is lower than FedNow's $10 million network limit, which is why large corporate payments in Singapore still go by MEPS+. Between countries, SWIFT remains the default for business payments into Singapore, with the correspondent-bank delays and fees that come with it.

How does a US business pay a supplier in Singapore?

From an ordinary US bank, by SWIFT: the supplier's bank, account number and SWIFT code, sent in US dollars or Singapore dollars. Sent in dollars, the payment can land in a USD account if the supplier keeps one, or be converted by the receiving bank; either way it moves on bank business days, typically taking one to two, with possible correspondent fees along the way.

Paying in Singapore dollars over FAST through a provider with local accounts gives the supplier a domestic SGD credit within seconds of release. For a business supplier, collect:

• The company's legal name and UEN, as shown on its invoice.
• The bank, the Singapore-dollar account number and the bank's SWIFT code.
• The invoice number, to send as the payment reference.
• The invoice currency, so you pay the exact SGD amount owed rather than a dollar figure that converts short.

How does PayNow work on Anytime Capital?

Anytime Capital business accounts pay suppliers in Singapore dollars to their Singapore bank accounts, over PayNow and FAST, from the same balance that holds your US receipts. A Singapore recipient is added with the account number and the bank's SWIFT code, the bank name optional, and the person's name or the company's legal name. Payouts are addressed by account rather than by PayNow proxy, so you don't need the supplier's UEN to pay it, though it is worth keeping on file. Singapore is one of 71 countries we pay out to over local rails, with SWIFT everywhere else.

The review screen names the rail, shows the exchange rate and the Singapore-dollar amount that arrives, lists the fee separately and gives the total in dollars before you approve, and the quoted price is held for a short countdown. Once released, FAST credits participating banks within seconds. Processing is subject to compliance review, and the processing times page explains how timing works for each payout method.