Businesses and individuals can now receive money from abroad by simply providing the sender with a mobile phone number.
British fintech firm TransferWise has incorporated PayNow into its international remittance service so recipients no longer need to disclose bank account details.
The company enabled Singapore users to send money abroad via PayNow last March.
Its latest initiative, which was announced yesterday, is expected to benefit freelancers receiving overseas payments or businesses that want to simplify the payment process for customers abroad.
Only the party transferring the money needs to have a TransferWise account.
The recipient simply needs to be a PayNow user. Payment is made via the TransferWise mobile app using the PayNow option.
“This (new) feature was highly requested by our customers because PayNow is used widely here,” said TransferWise engineer Li Wanlong, who implemented the PayNow feature.
EASIER TO SPLIT PAYMENTS
If you have a friend visiting from overseas and you head out for a meal or drinks, it is now much easier to split the bill using (our) PayNow option.
TRANSFERWISE ENGINEER LI WANLONG, on the convenience that the firm’s new PayNow option offers.
“If you have a friend visiting from overseas and you head out for a meal or drinks, it is now much easier to split the bill using (our) PayNow option.”
PayNow is a funds transfer service provided by nine banks. It allows customers to send and receive money from their accounts by using their mobile or NRIC numbers.
It works similarly for businesses with a registered PayNow Corporate account. They can make and receive payments instantly with their respective Unique Entity Numbers (UENs).
There were more than 2.8 million individual PayNow registrations as of last September and 115,000 UENs.
TransferWise handles about £4 billion (S$7.1 billion) in international transfers a month for its six million customers globally. It started here in 2016 and now moves about $1.7 billion in and out of Singapore every year.
Singaporeans can receive money from 45 countries and send money to 84 countries using TransferWise.
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