Selected merchants can now access multiple QR payment schemes

They need to sign up with just one financial institution to accept payments in MAS trial

- Sue-Ann Tan

Some merchants will soon find it easier to sign up for cashless payment schemes, while consumers will have more payment options by scanning just a single QR code.

From Wednesday, selected merchants need to sign up with only a single financial institution to accept payments from various cashless payment methods using an enhanced QR code system.

The trial, conducted by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), kicks off on Wednesday and will last till Nov 30. 

It will test the upgraded Singapore Quick Response Code Scheme (SGQR+) at more than 1,000 merchant acceptance points at the Singapore FinTech Festival at Singapore Expo and in Changi districts 16 and 17, which include areas such as Bedok and Loyang.

The festival, which will be held from Nov 15 to 17, will include a showcase and presentation of the SGQR+ trial.

Twenty-three payment schemes will be involved in the trial, including Alipay, Changi Pay, GrabPay, Visa and WeChat. 

SGQR+ is an enhancement of SGQR that was introduced in 2018 to combine multiple payment QR codes into a single label. 

“SGQR has become widely adopted by merchants as a simple and trusted solution to accept payments digitally,” MAS said in a statement. 

“However, merchants that wish to accept a range of payment schemes (local or foreign) need to maintain commercial relationships with different financial institutions.”

It added that consumers and tourists can use their preferred payment applications only if the merchant has a commercial relationship with the corresponding companies. 

This is where SGQR+ comes in: It will allow consumers to gain access to a wide variety of payment options when the merchant signs up with just one financial company.