To seek feedback from the people of Singapore regarding the proposed Payment Services Bill, Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has launched a second public consultation which will run up to January 8, 2018.
Last year, MAS had called for public feedback on the scope of the proposed payments regulatory framework.
Issuing a press statement, MAS said, “The Bill will streamline the regulation of payment services under a single legislation, expand the scope of regulated payment activities to include virtual currency services and other innovations, and calibrate regulation according to the risks posed by these activities.”
It added, “When the new Bill is enacted, payment firms will only need to hold one licence under a single regulatory framework to conduct any or all of the specified payment activities. Only payment activities that face customers or merchants, process funds or acquire transactions, and pose relevant regulatory concerns will need to be licensed.”
Expanding the scope of the proposed bill, MAS said, “The new framework will expand the scope of regulation to include domestic money transfers (e.g. transferring money through payment kiosks), merchant acquisition (e.g. acquiring transactions through a point-of-sale terminal or online payment gateway), and the purchase and sale of virtual currencies.
Further, the bill will empower the authority to regulate payment services for money-laundering and terrorism financing risks, strengthen safeguards for funds belonging to consumers and merchants, set standards on technology risk management and enhance "interoperability of payment solutions" across a wider range of payment activities, MAS added.
Ravi Menon, Managing Director of MAS, said, “We want to put in place a forward-looking regulatory regime to encourage wider adoption of secure e-payment solutions.”
He added, “The novel, activity-based licensing framework aims to right-size regulatory requirements to address the risks posed by specific payment activities. This will help to protect consumers and merchants while creating an environment conducive for innovation in payment services.”
The public consultation will run up to January 8, 2018 and a copy of the consultation paper is available on MAS' website.
MAS also invites payment users to give feedback on the proposed payment user protection measures.