The Monetary Authority of Singapore ("MAS") and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas ("BSP") have signed an enhanced FinTech Cooperation Agreement ("CA") to facilitate interoperable payments between Singapore and the Philippines. The enhanced CA builds on the earlier 2017 agreement to broaden the scope of FinTech collaboration and partnership between MAS and BSP.
The CA will facilitate the linkage of both countries' real-time and QR payment systems, to provide instant, seamless and low-cost cross-border payments. This is a significant initiative given the sizeable remittance flows between Singapore and Philippines, which totalled SGD 2.89 billion in 2020; and cater to the pre-pandemic yearly average of approximately 900,000 travellers between both countries.
MAS and BSP's collaboration in payment infrastructure projects aligns with the G20's efforts to address existing frictions in global cross-border payments, and contributes to Association of Southeast Asian Nations' ("ASEAN") goal of establishing regional payments integration by 2025. Both central banks will also explore multilateral interoperability of these projects, in keeping with regional efforts to establish further linkages within ASEAN and with countries outside the region.
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