SINGAPORE, January 25, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --
- Current consortium includes Diners
Club, EZi Wallet, EZ-Link,
Liquid Pay, Mastercard, UnionPay
International and Wirecard
- Consortium adopts the Singapore Quick Response Code (SG QR)
to support payments from local and international
debit and credit cards, and stored value wallets
Seven mobile wallets, acquirers and payment networks, including
Diners Club, EZi Wallet, EZ-Link,
Liquid Pay, Mastercard,
UnionPay International and
Wirecard, have formed a consortium to enable
interoperable QR payments in Singapore for consumers and merchants.
In line with SG QR, the consortium will jointly support an
interoperable QR framework that allows customers the ease and
convenience of paying with their mobile wallets and cards at
consortium merchants. Apart from bilateral arrangements, mobile
wallets and acquirers can choose to be supplemented by LiquidNet,
an interoperable API platform developed by Liquid Group that is
open to debit and credit cards, wallets, telecom providers,
payments technology institutions as well as local and international
payment apps.
Mobile payment will also be made easier for participating
merchants, as they will be able to accept consortium QR payments on
a single merchant system, creating inclusiveness and effectively
streamlining merchant on-boarding and support.
This initiative by the consortium comes on the heels of the
Payments Council's endorsement of the EMVCo compliant SG QR
specifications for electronic payments that will see SG QR being
adopted and deployed by payment service providers in Singapore through 2018[1].
SG QR payments via local and international credit cards, debit
cards and stored value wallets will be supported, ensuring a
seamless and streamlined e-payment experience for both consumers
and merchants.
The consortium's goal is to promote electronic payments in
Singapore, in line with the
Singapore Payments Roadmap, with the aim of supporting
interoperability among 2 million customers and 50,000 merchants in
Singapore by the end of the second
quarter of 2018.
Diners Club: James Koh,
Executive Director of Diners Club Singapore, said: "We view this
collaboration as an important development in speeding up the
ubiquitous adoption of the cashless payment landscape in
Singapore. Diners Club, being one
of the largest merchant acquirers in Singapore, is well positioned to significantly
contribute to this national endeavor. We are confident that this
platform will enhance the interoperability and increase the scale
of adoption by users and merchants, both being critical success
factors necessary for speedy implementation of a cashless payment
ecosystem."
EZi Wallet: Ian Lee, Founder of EZi Technology, said: "This
initiative will go a long way in easing the confusion faced by
merchants and consumers in adopting QR payments. It also enables
local fintech start-ups like us, to compete and thrive in a
supportive eco-system that we hope will propagate to the rest of
the industry. The end goal for us is to ensure that Singaporeans,
whether merchants or consumers, will have a choice of service
providers for QR payments with the least amount of hassle."
EZ-Link: Nicholas Lee, CEO of EZ-Link, said: "As a member
of the SG QR task force, EZ-Link is committed to expedite the
implementation of a national QR standard to advance Singapore on its cashless journey. We look
forward to working closely with all consortium members to help both
large merchants and small retailers adopt e-payments with greater
speed and convenience, to enhance their business efficiency."
Liquid Pay: Jeremy Tan,
Founder and CEO of Liquid Group, said: "The launch of LiquidNet is
an important milestone in building a payments ecosystem in
Singapore that is open, inclusive
and integrated. Liquid Group has always viewed interoperability and
universal acceptance as a critical component in cultivating a
cashless society, and we are delighted to bring Singapore one step closer to achieving this
goal in collaboration with our partners."
Mastercard: Deborah Heng,
Country Manager, Mastercard Singapore, said: "This collaboration
will be significant in driving acceptance amongst consumers and
merchants. With this partnership, consumers will have more options
to make quick, seamless and secure QR code payments via their
mobile phones. This is part of our commitment to support the
nation's vision to build an open-loop QR code system based on
global EMVCo QR standard and grow the adoption of cashless payments
in Singapore."
UnionPay International: Wenhui Yang, General Manager, UnionPay
International Southeast Asia, said: "UnionPay serves the world's
largest Cardholder base of over 6.3 billion. We strive to provide
our customers with greater convenience and enhance their payment
experience, regardless of whether they are transacting locally or
across borders. This industry partnership will pave the way for us
to collectively enable widespread acceptance and usage of QR Code
payments at merchants all across Singapore. As a simpler, easy-to-use form of
cashless payment that can be supported by almost any mobile device
with a camera feature, QR Code payments will also be a key catalyst
in UnionPay's drive to help Singapore realise its vision of becoming a
truly cashless society."
Wirecard: Jeffry Ho,
Regional Managing Director at Wirecard, said: "We are looking
forward to working within the new consortium, which will boost
mobile payments in Singapore even
more. Especially QR code payments are becoming mainstream in many
parts of Singapore, as more people
are getting familiar with the concept of paying for goods and
services by generating and scanning QR codes. We at Wirecard are
enabling all participating merchants to accept these digital
payments as fast and secure as possible."
Appendix: Company Profiles
About Diners Club
Established in 1950, Diners Club International became the first
multi-purpose charge card in the world, launching a financial
revolution in how consumers and companies pay for products and
services. Today, Diners Club is a globally-recognized brand serving
the payment needs of select and affluent consumers, offering access
to more than 800 airport lounges worldwide, and providing
corporations and small business owners with a complete array of
expense management solutions. With acceptance in more than 185
countries and territories, millions of merchant locations and
access to more than 1 million cash access locations and ATMs,
Diners Club, as a part of the Discover Global Network, is uniquely
qualified to serve its cardmembers all over the world. Diners Club
International is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Discover Financial
Services (NYSE: DFS), a direct banking and payment services company
with one of the most recognized brands in U.S. financial services.
For more information, visit http://www.dinersclub.com.
About EZi Technology
EZi Technology is a Singapore
start-up specialising in digital solutions for F&B and retail
applications. Founded in 2015, EZi's payment, mobile ordering, and
CRM solutions are deployed at more than 800 outlets across
Singapore, including Singapore's pioneer Productivity Coffee-shop
at Choa Chu Kang. Our philosophy for creating inclusive solutions
drives our commitment to humanise and make technology EZi for all.
Find out more at http://www.ezi-wallet.com
About EZ-Link
EZ-Link's core business is in the sale, distribution and
management of ez-link cards, as well as the clearing and settlement
of all ez-link card transactions generated in transit and
non-transit (retail/merchant) sectors. To date, more than 17
million new CEPAS-compliant ez-link cards have been issued. In
2015, EZ-Link unveiled EZ-Charms, its first non-card form factor.
EZ-Link continues to set new cashless trends with the "My EZ-Link
Mobile" application, the world's first Near Field Communication
(NFC) mobile application for contactless card top-ups; "EZ-Link NFC
SIM", the first NFC payment service on Singapore's public transit; and "EZ-Pay",
Singapore's first free card-less
ERP payment service. In December
2017, EZ-Link launched the new EZ-Link app to enable users
to access EZ-Link's functionalities and services with ease. For
more information, please visit http://www.ezlink.com.sg
About Liquid Group
Liquid Group is a payments technology company that operates
Liquid Pay, an integrated mobile payment app that utilizes QR code
for payment and delivers hyper-personalized offers from merchants
to customers based on consumer payment activity.
Liquid Group provides merchants with tools to drive customer
acquisition and improve their marketing reach, and works with
financial institutions and telecommunications organizations to
enhance their mobile payment capabilities.
Founded in 2015, and headquartered in Singapore, Liquid Group is a subsidiary of
Korvac Holdings Pte Ltd., an investment holding and management
company specializing in payments technology.
About Mastercard
Mastercard (NYSE: MA), http://www.mastercard.com , is a
technology company in the global payments industry. We operate the
world's fastest payments processing network, connecting consumers,
financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses in
more than 210 countries and territories. Mastercard's products and
solutions make everyday commerce activities - such as shopping,
traveling, running a business and managing finances - easier, more
secure and more efficient for everyone. Follow us on Twitter
@MastercardAP and @MastercardNews, join the discussion on the
Beyond the Transaction Blog and subscribe for the latest news on
the Engagement Bureau.
About UnionPay International
UnionPay International (UPI) focuses on the international
business of UnionPay, a global payment network that serves the
world's largest Cardholder base. With over 6.3 billion UnionPay
cards issued globally, over 51 million merchants and 2.57 million
ATMs accepting our cards worldwide, UnionPay is currently one of
the fastest-growing payment networks in the world.
In November 2017, UnionPay
International signed an MOU with AsiaMalls to deploy QR Code for
payments at merchants across six malls managed by AsiaMalls, the
first international payment brand to embark on a large-scale
roll-out of QR Code payments with a mall management partner.
In Southeast Asia, UnionPay has
enabled ATM, POS acceptance and card issuance across all 10
countries. In Singapore, UPI
partners Bank of China, DBS Bank,
ICBC and UOB to provide a wide array of payment products and
services. For more information, visit http://www.unionpayintl.com
.
About Wirecard
Wirecard AG is a global technology group that supports companies
in accepting electronic payments from all sales channels. As a
leading independent supplier, the Wirecard Group offers outsourcing
and white label solutions for electronic payments. A global
platform bundles international payment acceptances and methods with
supplementary fraud prevention solutions. With regard to issuing
own payment instruments in the form of cards or mobile payment
solutions, the Wirecard Group provides companies with an end-to-end
infrastructure, including the requisite licences for card and
account products. Wirecard AG is listed on the Frankfurt Securities
Exchange (TecDAX, ISIN DE0007472060, WDI). For further information
about Wirecard, please visit http://www.wirecard.com or follow us
on Twitter @wirecard.
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1. Source:
http://www.mas.gov.sg/News-and-Publications/Media-Releases/2017/Payments-Council-endorses-Singapore-Quick-Response-Code-Specifications-for-electronic-payments.aspx
Media Contact for Consortium
Holly Huang
Director, Hume Brophy
E:holly.huang@humebrophy.com
D: +65-3157-5293
M: +65-9880-2082