Singapore and India have signed an agreement to explore opportunities for further collaboration in fintech services.
India's Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) and Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said they would set up a joint working group[1] to be co-chaired by the latter's deputy managing director Jacqueline Loh and India Department of Financial Services' additional secretary Ravi Mital.
The working group also would comprise representatives of key stakeholders from both countries, including India's Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Reserve Bank of India, Stock Exchange of India, as well as Singapore's Smart Nation and Digital Government Office, Enterprise Singapore, and Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Organisations from both countries previously had partnered to offer fintech services, in particular, in the payment segment. Payment services provider Network for Electronic Transfers of Singapore (Nets) and National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) established a cross-border payment connection to support real-time fund transfer between accounts in both countries.
Both organisations also were working to create a payment connection to allow Nets cardholders to make payments at any RuPay merchant in India as well as RuPay cardholders to make payments at Nets terminals in Singapore.
Nets and NPCI also were assessing the possible use of India's national mobile wallet, Bharat Interface for Money (BHIM), to make payments at Nets terminals.
Jawed Ashraf, High Commissioner of the Republic of India to Singapore, said: "A digital revolution, anchored on the biometric identity[2] of a billion plus people, is sweeping through India. It has prompted financial inclusion, digital payments, and innovation on an extraordinary scale.
"Singapore, a global financial hub, has emerged as a leading centre for fintech. Our partnership will not only support our two nations' progress in