Registration of a company with a payment license in Singapore (PSP)

The modern world has completely switched from offline mode to online. Digital banks and payment systems have become new trends for entrepreneurs. This form of financial flow management has become popular in the construction of business processes and in the interaction of business owners with customers.

The volume of money transfers in electronic form is growing rapidly. At the moment, opinions about the most favorable country for obtaining a payment license (PSP) are divided. However, Singapore has always been in the top 5 countries of the world ranking of popular jurisdictions for obtaining payment licenses. Singapore's leadership in the international rankings of countries' competitiveness in obtaining payment licenses is explained by its incomparable advantages over other countries for business registration: a simple licensing process, a high-level banking system, a favorable tax regime and all kinds of benefits.

Further in our article we will try to analyze the main aspects and features of obtaining a payment license in Singapore, as well as its varieties.

Types of payment licenses in Singapore

Singapore is proud of its electronic payment systems. Singapore has created special legislation that regulates the issues of receiving and issuing electronic money. Since the current 2020, new legislation has been in effect, which describes the types of payment licenses and tightens the specifics of obtaining them. However, this does not mean that it is impossible to get a Payment license in Singapore, you just need to contact professionals in this field and carefully study the new rules.

At the moment, the legislation offers two types of payment licenses:

1. Standard Payment Institution;
2. Major Payment Institution.

Let's figure out what are the features of these types of licenses and how to get them. The Basic law of the PSA (Payment Service Act) offers the following types of payment activities: issuance of electronic money; account opening; international transfers; domestic money transfers; purchase and sale services; virtual currency services and money exchange services. To carry out such activities, it is necessary to obtain a general license — Standard Payment Institution License. Such a license allows you to engage in any activity designated in the PSA.

The standard license has the following main features:

1. The total amount of monthly transactions is less than $3,000,000 (three million) dollars for any payments;
2. The total amount of monthly transactions cannot exceed S$6m for two or more types of transactions;
3. The total amount of open positions (movement of electronic money) cannot exceed 5 $000 000 (five million) dollars.

For a standard license, there are simplified control rules. All threshold values are calculated in total for the year. If they are exceeded, it is necessary to obtain a Major Payment Institution license. The owners of the Major Payment Institution license must guarantee the safety of customers' money with a bank guarantee; an obligation on the part of the bank that guarantees the reimbursement of lost funds to customers or the safety of money by the bank.

In addition to exceeding the monthly transaction thresholds, the Major Payment Institution license, unlike the standard one, has additional requirements:

• The authorized capital must be from $ 250,000;
• Storage of an insurance deposit of $100,000;
• Interoperability through a common platform and/or common standards.

Requirements for companies to obtain a payment license in Singapore

To obtain a payment license, you need to fulfill a number of requirements:

• have a permanent place of registration in Singapore;
• the presence of a Singapore director;
• reporting to the regulatory authority of Singapore (MAS);
• 20% of controlling persons, directors must be approved by MAS and must meet certain requirements (education, experience, skills);
• the company is required to undergo an annual audit.

Having studied all the requirements for obtaining a payment license in advance, you will be able to calculate your budget and plan project expenses without any problems. In addition to services for preparing the application and supporting the entire licensing procedure before obtaining the license itself, the Antwort team will help you with the organization of AML processes, prepare the necessary policies for your platform or application, as well as help with personnel, office and conduct an audit.

Use the services of Antwort and create your own financial empire. Our task is to reduce and remove key risks for the project. We value our customers and are ready to become your reliable right hand! Antwort always has the right answer and a great success strategy!