Singapore showed its commitment towards a cashless society by rolling out the Singapore Quick Response Code (SGQR), said to be the first-ever unified payment QR code

Singapore just rolled out the Singapore Quick Response Code (SGQR), a unified QR Code compatible for cashless transaction in 27 e-payment platforms today, reported by Channel News Asia. The QR code will be improved over the course of the coming six months.

SGQR aims to simplify e-payments in Singapore for both consumers and merchants, according to a statement by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA).

A total of 27 payment solutions like PayNow, NETS, GrabPay, DBS PayLah, and Singtel DASH are compatible with the QR code.

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The launch of the SGQR will leave only one QR code sticker that shows all payment options that the merchant accepts, instead of different QR codes for different transactions, which can become overwhelming for both users and businesses.

Simply by logging in to the apps of their existing e-payment app, scanning the SGQR code, and keying in the payment amount, the transaction is done. “One of the critical challenges of e-payment adoption in Singapore is the simplicity and speed for both consumers and merchants. With SGQR, consumers retain the flexibility in choosing how to fund their QR payments,” said MAS and IMDA on their joint statement.

About 19,000 QR codes will be replaced with the SGQR labels at the end of September. The target is to complete the exercise by the end of 2018, wherein more than 1,000 merchants will join its first phase of launch.

This innovation is reportedly the work of last month’s task force, which consists of members from payment platforms, issuers, acquirers, banks and relevant government agencies with mission to examine the fragmented e-payment landscape in Singapore and come up with a solution.

“We’re striving towards transparent and easily understood method of e-payment for all parties. SGQR is expected to be the last few jigsaw pieces to complete the national e-payment infrastructure,” said Ong Ye Kung, Education Minister and MAS board member, during the launch.

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For the next six months, the next piece of the puzzle for the e-payments infrastructure will include broader access to e-wallet players and a set of user protection guidelines to make consumers feel safe using the national facility.

The user protection guidelines will detail the actions taken by the financial institutions and third party, should there are unauthorised transactions, as well as the rare case of transactions above S$1,000 (US$ 727), which will trigger an investigation by the financial institution. The latter, however, can only happen after additional authentication has taken place, because the possibility of neglect by the user is unlikely.

In addition to the guidelines, the government will also address the need for non-banks to connect with FAST, a transfer service launched in 2014 for instant fund transfers, through an industry working group, DIRECT FAST.

Grab, Liquid Group, MatchMove and Razer and TransferWise have also signed up for FAST, further endorsing the initiative.

“It’s the only way for cashless transaction in this country to be truly open, accessible, and competitive. FAST has to be opened to allow access to central payment infrastructure to encourage competition and enable interoperation with bank accounts,” said Mr Ong.

Furthermore, to help reducing the cost of FAST tech requirements, the government will seek expressions of interest to build a FAST aggregator.

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Photo by Max Felner on Unsplash

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