The regional neighbors aim to boost cross-border collaborations that will strengthen Asean regional payments and provide financial inclusivity to Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) and micro-small-to-medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs).
The central banks of Singapore and the Philippines have signed an agreement at the World Fintech Festival Philippines to boost payments cooperation, which includes the linkage of the two countries’ QR and real-time payment systems.
The agreement expands on the Fintech Innovation Function Cooperation Agreement, which was signed between the two countries in 2017. According to the announcement, the 2021 agreement will make cross-border payments cheaper, more inclusive, and more transparent and drive financial inclusion, particularly underserved Filipinos.
MAS managing director Ravi Menon called the agreement a concrete step towards the vision of an ASEAN network of interconnected real-time payment systems.