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Retrieving stray credits from e-wallets will be a plus, consumers say

SINGAPORE — On Monday (Sept 17), when he launched the unified Quick Response (QR) payment label SGQR, Education Minister and MAS board member Ong Ye Kung announced that plans are afoot to open up the e-payment infrastructure to other non-banking e-payment solutions, so that they can interoperate with banks.

Plans are afoot to open up the SGQR e-payment infrastructure to other non-banking e-payment solutions, so that they can interoperate with banks.

Plans are afoot to open up the SGQR e-payment infrastructure to other non-banking e-payment solutions, so that they can interoperate with banks.

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SINGAPORE — With only 79 cents left in his GrabPay account, Mr Tommy Lee does not have much of a choice but to top up and continue spending from the account which allows him to make mobile payments. The paltry sum is not worth any inconvenience he might have to go through to get the money back.

Being able to transfer funds from his e-wallet to his bank account is what this 31-year-old needs. And an industry working group will be formed to look into making such a function a reality in the near future.

The working group comprises the operator of Fast, an instant online interbank funds transfer system, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), banks and non-banking institutions. It will develop business and technical requirements for non-banking institutions to access Fast.

On Monday (Sept 17), when he launched the unified Quick Response (QR) payment label SGQR, Education Minister and MAS board member Ong Ye Kung announced that plans are afoot to open up the e-payment infrastructure to other non-banking e-payment solutions, so that they can interoperate with banks.

If successful, this means that consumers can transfer money between different types of e-wallets, as well as from bank accounts to e-wallets and vice versa, as long as they are connected to Fast.

Right now, most e-wallets require users to top up its cash value through a credit card, and leftover credits are not able to be directed anywhere else, except to be spent.

With the possibility that there may an option for him in the future to retrieve the money, another e-wallet user Hafiz Firdaus, 29, said: "It won't be a foregone thing then, like the money has to be spent on GrabPay. I can take the money back to put into (my bank) account when I'm not using it".

Citing the example of oBike users who lost their deposits when the bike-sharing company pulled out of Singapore, Mr Hafiz said that having the ability to transfer money out of e-wallets could be one way of preventing that from happening.

"If the company closes down, the money is all gone… (Even if you can get the money back), the process takes very long," he added.

 

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Companies that provide e-wallet services told TODAY that the move to connect e-wallets to Fast will improve the e-payments system in Singapore.

Highlighting how it can benefit users, Mr Gary Wong, the head of GrabPay, said that those who use the mobile payment service may be able to "transfer and receive GrabPay credits to and from participating banks and e-wallets seamlessly in the future".

Mr Jeremy Tan, chief executive officer of payments technology firm Liquid Group, said that while users are already able to use credit cards to top up e-wallets, linking them to bank accounts directly is a "major step up" as it will open up "many more permutations of fund movements".

While gaming firm Razer's chief strategy officer Lee Li Meng does not foresee major challenges in implementing the new scheme, Mr Tan thinks that the working group will have to address key issues such as compatibility and interoperability, along with security and compliance.

"Every e-wallet provider will need to assess whether it makes sense to offer overlapping functions with banks, or whether it makes sense for them to focus on specific (areas) that the market is lacking and create new innovative services to delight their consumers," he added.

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