MAS to test accepting QR codes from different payment schemes through single FI

A single financial institution will help unlock local and global payment.

Singapore's central bank will conduct a trial of the Singapore Quick Response Code Scheme (SGQR+) through a proof of concept (POC), which will test the interoperability of QR payment from a variety of payment schemes through solely a financial institution.

In the whole of November, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said the testing will increase the number of payment methods that Singapore retailers can accept. 

"Merchants will only need to sign up with a single financial institution to unlock a diverse range of local and cross-border payment schemes," said MAS.

"By aggregating multiple payment providers using SGQR+, merchants will no longer need to maintain commercial relationships with several financial institutions to accept different payment schemes," read MAS' statement.

During the POC, SGQR+ will be launched with 23 payment schemes in more than 1,000 merchant acceptance points at the venue of the Singapore FinTech Festival (SFF) and in the Changi district.

Examples of the payment schemes are Alipay, GrabPay, NETS, ShopeePay, and UnionPay.

"With SGQR+, consumers can look forward to using their preferred payment applications at more merchant acceptance points," said MAS.

Even tourists can enjoy their purchases with their native payment applications, as merchants empowered by the SGQR+ solutions will be able to easily accept more international payment schemes.

The POC will be implemented through two separate tracks featuring different technology solutions.

Track I will be led by Liquid Group, "which will operate a switch that processes payments between the financial institution serving the merchant and the financial institution."
 
For Track II, NETS "will allow consumers to scan and pay at NETS’ participating merchants with a variety of local and foreign payment schemes."

"This solution is currently available to merchants that are part of the Government-subsidised Hawkers Go Digital programme," read the statement.

SGQR was first introduced in 2018 to combine multiple payment QR codes into a single SGQR label. 

However, there was a need to enhance its interoperability as merchants who want to accept a range of payment schemes (local or foreign) need to maintain commercial relationships with different financial institutions.