Monetary Authority Of Singapore Appoints Payments Council To Boost E-Payments

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has announced news of the creation of a Payments Council that will work to promote ePayments in the country.

According to OpenGov, the Payments Council — made up of 20 leaders from banks, payment service providers, businesses and trade associations — will focus on ePayments under the government’s Smart Nation program. The appointees will work to encourage collaboration within the payments industry, promote interoperability among electronic payments solutions and develop strategies to drive the adoption of online payments.

One of the main goals for the Monetary Authority of Singapore is to facilitate the development of payments solutions like PayNow, supporting the introduction and rollout of unified point-of-sale terminals at merchants and introducing new payments legislation to safeguard consumer interests and facilitate innovative online payment solutions.

“We have many good ePayment solutions in Singapore,” said Ravi Menon, managing director, MAS, and chair of the Payments Council. “We need to make them more interoperable and better integrate them with individual and business use cases so that more people will adopt ePayments. The Payments Council brings together the various parties that can help achieve this. Our mission is to make ePayments simple, seamless and secure for all Singaporeans.”

While the banks and payment service providers that make up the Payments Council will not undertake and implement projects, the organization may be called upon to facilitate strategic electronic payments projects and initiatives. In addition, the Payments Council will not be allowed to establish and enforce by-laws and rules and regulations of payment systems, or be able to appoint vendors for payment systems.

Members are appointed for a two-year term. Under Ravi Menon’s managerial direction, MAS will invite individuals who can best represent their relevant community, inviting businesses, trade associations and chambers of commerce. It will also draw representation from local and foreign banks, as well as non-bank payment service providers.