MAS and ABS Announce Launch of Electronic Deferred Payment Solutions in Mid-2025 and Extension of Deadline for Cessation of Corporate Cheques
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
JOINT MEDIA RELEASE
MAS and
ABS Announce Launch of Electronic Deferred Payment Solutions in Mid-
2025 and Extension of Deadline for Cessation of Corporate
Cheques
• New Electronic Deferred Payment (EDP) solutions to
be launched in mid-2025 to
support transition to e-payments
• Deadline to cease processing of corporate cheques extended
by one year to end-
2026
• Retail cheques, cashier’s
orders and USD cheques continue to be available
Singapore, 5
December 2024. . . The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the
Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS) today announced that two new
payments solutions will be launched in mid-2025 to support the
transition to e-payments for both corporate and retail cheque users1.
These solutions will complement Singapore's existing suite of
e-payment modes, including PayNow, FAST, GIRO and MEPS+. To allow
corporates sufficient time to adopt these new solutions, MAS and ABS
have also announced a one-year extension of the deadline to cease
processing of corporate cheques.
New solutions to support
cheque users in transitioning to e-payments
2 To provide
greater convenience to corporates and individuals, ABS, in partnership
with the Domestic Systemically Important Banks (D-SIBs)2, will be
launching the new EDP and EDP+ solutions3 in mid-2025 to address the
use cases of post-dated payments and transactions requiring greater
certainty of payment respectively. Both EDP and EDP+ will be
accessible via digital banking platforms, and will leverage PayNow to
allow payers to identify payees conveniently when making payments via
either solution. MAS encourages all cheque users to adopt these
e-payment alternatives once they are made available.
1
Corporate cheques refer to cheques issued by body corporates, entities
or businesses. Retail cheques refer to cheques issued by
individuals.
2 These banks are Citibank, DBS Bank, HSBC,
Maybank, OCBC Singapore, Standard Chartered Bank and UOB.
3 The
main difference between EDP and EDP+ lies in when funds are deducted
from the payer’s account. For EDP, funds are deducted upon
presentment by the payee, while for EDP+, funds are deducted
immediately upon issuance. For more details on EDP and EDP+, please
refer to the consultation paper.
Extended timeline for
processing SGD corporate cheques
MAS and banks will extend
the deadline to cease processing of corporate cheques by
3
an additional year.
4 MAS had previously announced that
corporate cheques would be eliminated and that all banks in Singapore
would stop issuing new corporate cheque books in 2025. MAS and the
banks have assessed that more time should be given to corporates to
familiarise themselves with new and existing e-payment modes, as well
as for corporates to shift from cheques to EDP and EDP+. In view of
this, while banks will stop issuing new cheque books to corporates by
31 December 2025, the deadline to cease processing of corporate
cheques will be extended to 31 December 2026.
Corporate cheque
payees should present their cheques for clearing well before 31
5 December 2026, to ensure that their cheques can be
processed before the deadline.
Public consultation on roadmap
to sunset corporate cheques and transition plan for retail cheques
Retail cheques will continue to be available, along with
cashier’s orders and USD
6 cheques for both corporate and
retail customers.
7
Major retail banks in Singapore
will continue to waive cheque service fees for seniors4.
8
Details on the transition plan from cheques to e-payments, as well as
proposed initiatives that focus on addressing the needs and concerns
of corporates and individuals, can be found in the public
consultation paper released today by MAS. MAS invites interested
parties to submit their feedback by 17 January 2025.
***
About the Monetary Authority of Singapore The Monetary
Authority of Singapore (MAS) is Singapore’s central bank and
integrated financial regulator. As a central bank, MAS promotes
sustained, non-inflationary economic growth through the conduct of
monetary policy and close macroeconomic surveillance and analysis. It
manages Singapore’s exchange rate, official foreign reserves, and
liquidity in the banking sector. As an integrated financial
supervisor, MAS fosters a sound financial services sector through its
prudential oversight of all financial institutions in Singapore –
banks, insurers, capital market intermediaries, financial advisors
and financial market infrastructures.
It is also responsible
for well-functioning financial markets, sound conduct, and investor
education. MAS also works with the financial industry to promote
Singapore as a dynamic international financial centre. It facilitates
the development of infrastructure, adoption of technology, and
upgrading of skills in the financial industry.
4 Seniors who
are at age 60 (or above) as of 31 December 2025 will remain eligible
for the waiver of cheque services fees after 31 December
2025.
About The Association of Banks in Singapore The
Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS) plays an active role in
promoting and representing the interests of the banking community in
Singapore. In doing so, ABS works closely with the relevant
government authorities towards the development of a sound financial
system in Singapore. Since its establishment in 1973, ABS has
promoted common understanding among its members and projected a
unifying voice on banking issues. It has brought its members closer
together through various guidelines and banking practices as well as
the support of projects of mutual benefit to face the challenges of
the financial and banking community in Singapore. Today, ABS has a
membership of more than 150 local and foreign banks.