GLOBAL PAYMENTS KNOWLEDGEISO 20022 / SWIFT / SEPA / MT / MX
PAYMENTSSIGNAL

The interactive academy for the standards, messages, and rails that move money.

GET IN TOUCH
FOLLOW THE PAYMENT

Singapore PayNow (addressing overlay on FAST)

PayNow lets Riya pay Arjun in Singapore dollars using his mobile number or a QR code instead of his account number — the payment itself runs on FAST underneath, and net positions settle later in MEPS+ at the central bank.

Reference card →
Your notes

Contributor Shubham Mathure

STEP 1 / 7MESSAGE

Riya enters Arjun's PayNow proxy — no account number

Riya (payer) → Bank Alfa (payer bank)

Riya scans Arjun's PayNow QR or types his mobile number in her banking app. She pays to an identifier she can remember, and never has to see or type his bank account number.

Step 1 of 7: Riya enters Arjun's PayNow proxy — no account number

  1. 01Message
    Riya enters Arjun's PayNow proxy — no account numberRiya (payer) → Bank Alfa (payer bank)
  2. 02Message
    The PayNow directory maps the proxy to a real accountBank Alfa (payer bank) → PayNow proxy directory
  3. 03Message
    Riya sees the registered name before she confirmsBank Alfa (payer bank) → Riya (payer)
  4. 04Posting
    Bank Alfa debits Riya's accountBank Alfa (payer bank)
  5. 05Clearing obligation
    FAST clears the payment in real timeBank Alfa (payer bank) → FAST + MEPS+ (settlement)
  6. 06Posting
    Nordbank credits Arjun almost instantlyNordbank (payee bank)
  7. 07Settlement
    Net positions settle later in MEPS+ at MASFAST + MEPS+ (settlement) → FAST + MEPS+ (settlement)
MESSAGECLEARING OBLIGATIONSETTLEMENTPOSTING
Full step-by-step text (works without JavaScript)
  1. 01Message
    Riya enters Arjun's PayNow proxy — no account numberRiya (payer) → Bank Alfa (payer bank)

    Riya scans Arjun's PayNow QR or types his mobile number in her banking app. She pays to an identifier she can remember, and never has to see or type his bank account number.

  2. 02Message
    The PayNow directory maps the proxy to a real accountBank Alfa (payer bank) → PayNow proxy directory

    The PayNow directory looks up the mobile number and returns which bank and account it belongs to. The proxy points at a real account at Nordbank without ever exposing that account number to Riya.

  3. 03Message
    Riya sees the registered name before she confirmsBank Alfa (payer bank) → Riya (payer)

    The app shows the name registered against the proxy so Riya can check she is paying the right person before releasing the money. Confirming the name is her defence against a mistyped number.

  4. 04Posting
    Bank Alfa debits Riya's accountBank Alfa (payer bank)

    Once Riya confirms, Bank Alfa books the debit on Riya's account and sends the payment onto FAST, the real-time rail that carries every PayNow transfer underneath.

    • DR Riya's current account at Bank Alfa — SGD 60.00
  5. 05Clearing obligation
    FAST clears the payment in real timeBank Alfa (payer bank) → FAST + MEPS+ (settlement)

    PayNow is only the addressing layer — the payment itself rides on FAST, where the clearing house records the obligation between Bank Alfa and Nordbank so the money can move within seconds.

    SACH (the automated clearing house) clears the FAST transfer and tallies what each bank owes the other for later net settlement.

  6. 06Posting
    Nordbank credits Arjun almost instantlyNordbank (payee bank)

    Nordbank receives the cleared payment and credits Arjun's account within seconds, so Arjun can spend the money straight away even though the banks have not yet settled between themselves.

    • CR Arjun's current account at Nordbank — SGD 60.00
  7. 07Settlement
    Net positions settle later in MEPS+ at MASFAST + MEPS+ (settlement) → FAST + MEPS+ (settlement)

    Because PayNow rides on FAST, settlement is deferred and netted: later the banks' net positions settle in MEPS+ in central bank money at the Monetary Authority of Singapore, which finally squares what each bank owes.

    • DR Bank Alfa settlement position at MAS — SGD 60.00
    • CR Nordbank settlement position at MAS — SGD 60.00

What this simplifies: One payer bank, one payee bank, and a single proxy lookup are shown; the FAST clearing batch, the MEPS+ netting cycle, and exact settlement timings are described in plain terms rather than to the minute.

LEARN THE CONCEPTS BEHIND THIS FLOW

Sources for this flow2
  1. Official requirement

    FAST and PayNow ↗ — Association of Banks in Singapore

    Describes FAST (Fast And Secure Transfers), Singapores near-instant 24/7 SGD retail transfer service cleared by the Singapore Automated Clearing House (SACH), which prepares net settlement files settled in MEPS+; and PayNow, the proxy-addressing overlay on FAST (mobile number, NRIC/FIN, UEN or PayNow QR), launched July 2017 and available 24/7. · Checked 2026-07-14

    FAST clears in real time but settles net via MEPS+; PayNow is an addressing overlay on FAST, not a separate settlement system.

  2. Simplified educational illustration

    Payments Signal editorial teaching models — Payments Signal

    This site's own simplified teaching models. · Checked 2026-07-12

    What this simplifies: One payer bank, one payee bank, and a single directory lookup; the netting cycle, fees, and the exact MEPS+ settlement timing are shown qualitatively rather than to the minute.

    Used wherever diagrams, scenarios, figures, or example values are didactic constructions rather than sourced facts; every such use carries a simplifications disclosure. All people, companies, banks, and list entries in examples are fictional.