Payment Services Act 2019 · 2020 Revised Edition · Schedules
Schedule 1 · Payment services
Feedback & supportFIRST SCHEDULESections 2(1) and (4) and 107(1)Payment servicesPart 1Services that are payment services
1. Except where Part 2 of this Schedule provides otherwise, each of the following services is a payment service for the purposes of this Act:
payment service
“payment service” means any service that is specified in Part 1 of the First Schedule, but excludes any service that is specified in Part 2 of that Schedule;
an account issuance service;
account issuance service
“account issuance service” has the meaning given by Part 3 of the First Schedule;
a domestic money transfer service;
domestic money transfer service
“domestic money transfer service” has the meaning given by Part 3 of the First Schedule;
a cross‑border money transfer service;
cross‑border money transfer service
“cross‑border money transfer service” has the meaning given by Part 3 of the First Schedule;
a merchant acquisition service;
merchant acquisition service
“merchant acquisition service” has the meaning given by Part 3 of the First Schedule;
an e-money issuance service;
e‑money issuance service
“e‑money issuance service” has the meaning given by Part 3 of the First Schedule;
a digital payment token service;
digital payment token service
“digital payment token service” has the meaning given by Part 3 of the First Schedule;
a money‑changing service.Part 2Services that are not payment services
money-changing service
“money-changing service” has the meaning given by Part 3 of the First Schedule;
2. Despite Part 1 of this Schedule, the following services are not payment services for the purposes of this Act:
the service of executing a payment transaction on behalf of the payer or the payee, if performed by a commercial agent authorised to negotiate or conclude the sale or purchase of goods or services on behalf of the payer or the payee, as the case may be;
payment transaction
“payment transaction” means the placing, transfer or withdrawal of money, whether for the purpose of paying for goods or services or for any other purpose, and regardless of whether the intended recipient of the money is entitled to the money;
the service of executing a payment transaction based on any of the following documents, each being a document drawn on a person with a view to placing money at the disposal of the payee:
money
“money” includes e‑money but excludes any digital payment token and any excluded digital representation of value;
any cheque, cashier’s order, drawing voucher, dividend warrant, demand draft, remittance receipt, traveller’s cheque or gift cheque;
any paper postal order;
the service of executing any payment transaction within a payment system or securities settlement system between any 2 or more participants of the system (each being a payment service provider, settlement agent, central counterparty, clearing house, central bank or any other participant of the system);
payment system
“payment system” means a funds transfer system or other system that facilitates the circulation of money, and includes any instruments and procedures that relate to the system;
the service of executing any payment transaction between 2 or more persons (each being a payment services provider, an agent of that payment service provider, or a branch of that payment service provider), each of which acts for its own account in the payment transaction, in any case where the service is provided by one of those persons;
payment service provider
“payment service provider” means any person that provides a payment service;
the service of executing payment transactions (including both domestic money transfers and cross‑border money transfers) between 2 or more related corporations, in any case where the payment transaction —
is not executed through a payment service provider; or
is executed through a payment service provider that is one of those related corporations;
the service of transporting currency, including the collection, processing and delivery of the currency, where the provision of the service is carried on as a business;
currency
“currency” means currency notes and coins that are legal tender in Singapore or a country or territory other than Singapore;
the service of collecting and delivering currency, where no fee is collected for the service, and the service is provided as a not‑for‑profit or charitable activity;
any service, including (but not limited to) any of the following services, provided by any technical service provider that supports the provision of any payment service, but does not at any time enter into possession of any money under that payment service:
the service of processing and storing data;
any information technology security, trust or privacy protection service;
any data and entity authentication service;
entity
“entity” means any body corporate or unincorporate, whether incorporated, formed or established in or outside Singapore;
any information technology service;
the service of providing a communication network;
the service of providing and maintaining any terminal or device used for any payment service;
any payment service mentioned in Part 1 of this Schedule that is provided by any person licensed, approved, registered or regulated, or exempt from being licensed, approved, registered or regulated, under any of the following Acts, in any case where the payment service is solely incidental to or necessary solely for that person to carry on that person’s business in any regulated activity for which that person is so licensed, approved, registered, regulated or exempt from being licensed, approved, registered or regulated:
business
“business” includes affairs, property, right, obligation and liability;
Financial Advisers Act 2001;
Insurance Act 1966;
Securities and Futures Act 2001;
Trust Companies Act 2005;
any payment service mentioned in Part 1 of this Schedule that is provided by any person in respect only of any limited purpose e‑money;
e‑money
“e‑money” means any electronically stored monetary value that —(a)is denominated in any currency, or pegged by its issuer to any currency;(b)has been paid for in advance to enable the making of payment transactions through the use of a payment account;(c)is accepted by a person other than its issuer; and(d)represents a claim on its issuer,but does not include any deposit accepted in Singapore, from any person in Singapore;
any digital payment token service that is provided, in respect of any central bank digital payment token, by any central bank or financial institution;[Act 1 of 2021 wef 04/04/2024]
digital payment token
“digital payment token” means any digital representation of value (other than an excluded digital representation of value) that —(a)is expressed as a unit;(b)is not denominated in any currency, and is not pegged by its issuer to any currency;(c)is, or is intended to be, a medium of exchange accepted by the public, or a section of the public, as payment for goods or services or for the discharge of a debt;(d)can be transferred, stored or traded electronically; and(e)satisfies such other characteristics as the Authority may prescribe;
any digital payment token service that is provided in respect of any limited purpose digital payment token.[Act 1 of 2021 wef 04/04/2024]Part 3Interpretation
3. In this Schedule, unless the context otherwise requires —“account issuance service” means any of the following services:
the service of issuing a payment account to any person in Singapore;
any service relating to any operation required for operating a payment account, including —
any service (other than a domestic money transfer service or a cross‑border money transfer service) that enables money to be placed in a payment account; or
any service (other than a domestic money transfer service or a cross‑border money transfer service) that enables money to be withdrawn from a payment account;“associated company”, in relation to an issuer of electronically stored monetary value, means a company at least 20%, but not more than 50%, of the shares of which are held by the issuer, or by the issuer and its subsidiaries, if any;“central bank digital payment token” means any digital payment token that is issued by a central bank, or by any entity authorised by a central bank to issue a digital payment token on behalf of the central bank;“commercial agent” means any person that carries on a business of acting as an authorised agent for another person, for the purposes of negotiating or concluding the sale or purchase of goods or services on behalf of that other person;“cross‑border money transfer service” means any of the following services:
company
“company” and “corporation” have the meanings given by section 4(1) of the Companies Act 1967;
any service of accepting money in Singapore, whether as principal or agent, for the purpose of transmitting, or arranging for the transmission of, the money to any person outside Singapore (other than any such service that the Authority may prescribe);
any service of receiving any money from outside Singapore for, or arranging for the receipt of any money from outside Singapore by, any person in Singapore (other than any such service that the Authority may prescribe), whether as principal or as agent;
any service of arranging for the transmission of money from any country or territory to another country or territory, whether as principal or agent (other than any such service that the Authority may prescribe);[Act 1 of 2021 wef 04/04/2024][Act 1 of 2021 wef 04/04/2024]“dealing in”, in relation to any digital payment token, means the buying or selling of that digital payment token in exchange for any money or any other digital payment token (whether of the same or a different type), but does not include any of the following:
facilitating the exchange of digital payment tokens;
accepting any digital payment token as a means of payment for the provision of goods or services;
using any digital payment token as a means of payment for the provision of goods or services;“digital payment token exchange” —
means a place, or a facility (whether electronic or otherwise), where —
offers or invitations to buy or sell any digital payment token in exchange for any money or any other digital payment token (whether of the same or a different type), are regularly made on a centralised basis;
those offers or invitations are intended, or may reasonably be expected, to result (whether directly or indirectly) in the acceptance of those offers or in the making of offers to buy or sell digital payment tokens in exchange for money or other digital payment tokens (whether of the same or a different type), as the case may be; and
the person making any such offer or invitation, and the person accepting that offer or making an offer in response to that invitation, are different persons; but(b)does not include a place or facility (whether electronic or otherwise) that is used exclusively by one person to do only either or both of the following things:
to make offers or invitations to buy or sell any digital payment token in exchange for any money, or any digital payment token (whether of the same or a different type);
to accept any offer to buy or sell any digital payment token in exchange for any money, or any digital payment token (whether of the same or a different type);“digital payment token instrument” means any password, code, cipher, cryptogram, private cryptographic key or other instrument that enables a person —
to control access to one or more digital payment tokens; or
access
“access”, in relation to a payment system, means an entitlement or eligibility to be a participant in the payment system;
to execute a transaction involving one or more digital payment tokens;[Act 1 of 2021 wef 04/04/2024]“digital payment token service” means any of the following services:
any service of dealing in digital payment tokens (other than any such service that the Authority may prescribe);
any service of facilitating the exchange of digital payment tokens (other than any such service that the Authority may prescribe);
any service of accepting (whether as principal or agent) digital payment tokens from one digital payment token account (whether in Singapore or elsewhere), for the purposes of transmitting, or arranging for the transmission of, the digital payment tokens to another digital payment token account (whether in Singapore or elsewhere);[Act 1 of 2021 wef 04/04/2024]
any service of arranging (whether as principal or agent) for the transmission of digital payment tokens from one digital payment token account (whether in Singapore or elsewhere) to another digital payment token account (whether in Singapore or elsewhere);[Act 1 of 2021 wef 04/04/2024]
any service of inducing or attempting to induce any person to enter into or to offer to enter into any agreement for or with a view to buying or selling any digital payment token in exchange for any money or any other digital payment token (whether of the same or a different type);[Act 1 of 2021 wef 04/04/2024]
any service of safeguarding a digital payment token, where the service provider has control over the digital payment token;[Act 1 of 2021 wef 04/04/2024]
any service of carrying out for a customer an instruction relating to a digital payment token, where the service provider has control over the digital payment token;[Act 1 of 2021 wef 04/04/2024]
any service of safeguarding a digital payment token instrument, where the service provider has control over one or more digital payment tokens associated with the digital payment token instrument;[Act 1 of 2021 wef 04/04/2024]
any service of carrying out for a customer an instruction relating to one or more digital payment tokens associated with a digital payment token instrument, where the service provider has control over the digital payment token instrument;[Act 1 of 2021 wef 04/04/2024]“direct debit” means the act of debiting a payer’s payment account pursuant to a payment transaction initiated by a payee with the consent of the payer, regardless whether the payment order is given by the payee to the payee’s payment service provider or to the payer’s payment service provider;“domestic money transfer service” means the service of accepting money for the purpose of executing, or arranging for the execution of, any of the following payment transactions, each of which is between a payer in Singapore and a payee in Singapore (except in the case where both the payer and the payee are financial institutions):
payer
“payer” means a person that initiates, or consents to the initiation of, a payment order for the transfer of money;
a payment transaction executed from, by way of or through a payment account;
a direct debit (including a one‑off direct debit) through a payment account;
a credit transfer (including a standing order) through a payment account;
accepting any money from any person for transfer to the payment account of a different person;[Act 1 of 2021 wef 04/04/2024]“e‑money issuance service” means the service of issuing e‑money to any person for the purpose of allowing a person to make payment transactions;“facilitating the exchange of”, in relation to any type of digital payment token, means establishing or operating a digital payment token exchange for that type of digital payment token, in a case where the person that establishes or operates that digital payment token exchange, for the purposes of an offer or invitation (made or to be made on that digital payment token exchange) to buy or sell that type of digital payment token in exchange for any money or any digital payment token (whether of that type or a different type), comes into possession of any money or any digital payment token, whether at the time that offer or invitation is made or otherwise;“facilitating the exchange of digital payment tokens” means establishing or operating a digital payment token exchange, in a case where the person that establishes or operates that digital payment token exchange, for the purposes of an offer or invitation (made or to be made on that digital payment token exchange) to buy or sell any digital payment token in exchange for any money or any digital payment token (whether of the same or a different type), comes into possession of any money or any digital payment token, whether at the time that offer or invitation is made or otherwise;“financial institution” means any person that —
is licensed, approved, registered or regulated, or is exempt from being licensed, approved, registered or regulated, by the Authority under any written law; or
is licensed, approved, registered or regulated, or is exempt from being licensed, approved, registered or regulated, under any law administered by an authority in a foreign country (the functions of which correspond to the functions of the Authority in Singapore) to carry on any financial activity in that country;“financial product” means any product or service that is provided by a financial institution;“franchise” means a written agreement or arrangement between 2 or more persons by which —
foreign country
“foreign country” means a country or territory other than Singapore;
a party (called in this definition the franchisor) to the agreement or arrangement authorises or permits another party (called in this definition the franchisee) to the agreement or arrangement, or a person associated with the franchisee, to engage in the business of offering, selling or distributing goods or services in Singapore under a plan or system controlled by the franchisor or a person associated with the franchisor;
arrangement
“arrangement” includes any formal or informal scheme, arrangement or understanding, and any trust whether express or implied;
the business carried on by the franchisee or person associated with the franchisee (as the case may be) is capable of being identified by the public as associated with a trade mark or service mark, logo, symbol or name identifying, commonly connected with or controlled by the franchisor or person associated with the franchisor, as the case may be;
the franchisor or person associated with the franchisor (as the case may be) exerts, or has authority to exert, a significant degree of control over the method or manner of operation of the business of the franchisee or person associated with the franchisee, as the case may be;
the franchisee or person associated with the franchisee (as the case may be) is required under the agreement or arrangement to make payment, or give some other form of consideration, to the franchisor or person associated with the franchisor, as the case may be; and
the franchisor or person associated with the franchisor (as the case may be) agrees to communicate to the franchisee or person associated with the franchisee (as the case may be) knowledge, experience, expertise, know‑how, trade secrets or other information, whether or not the knowledge, experience, expertise, know‑how or information is proprietary or confidential;“in‑game asset” means any digital representation of value that —
is purchased or otherwise acquired by a person (called in this definition the game player);
is not denominated in any currency;
is issued as part of an online game; and
is used by the game player to pay or in exchange for virtual objects or services in the online game;“limited network of providers of goods or services”, in relation to any electronically stored monetary value that is accepted by a member of the network as payment or part payment for goods or services, means any of the following groups of entities:
a group of entities consisting only of all parties to a franchise, of which the issuer of the electronically stored monetary value is a party;
a group of entities consisting only of the issuer of the electronically stored monetary value and all of its related corporations;
where any securities or securities-based derivatives contracts of the issuer of the electronically stored monetary value are listed on the Mainboard of Singapore Exchange Limited, a group of entities consisting only of that issuer and all of its associated companies;“limited purpose digital payment token” means any non‑monetary customer loyalty or reward point, any in‑game asset, or any similar digital representation of value that —
cannot be returned to its issuer, transferred or sold in exchange for money; and
may only be used —
in the case of a non‑monetary customer loyalty or reward point — for the payment or part payment of, or in exchange for, goods or services, or both, provided by its issuer or any merchant specified by its issuer; or
merchant
“merchant” means a person (other than an individual who is not required to be registered under the Business Names Registration Act 2014) who, in the course of the person’s business —(a)provides goods or services;(b)promotes the use or purchase of goods or services; or(c)receives, or is entitled to receive, any money or other consideration for providing goods or services,and includes any employee or agent of the person;
in the case of an in‑game asset — for the payment of, or in exchange for, virtual objects or virtual services within an online game, or any similar thing within, that is part of, or in relation to, an online game;“limited purpose e‑money” means any of the following types of electronically stored monetary value:
any electronically stored monetary value that is, or is intended to be, used only in Singapore for any of the following purposes:
the payment or part payment of goods or services (or both) provided by the issuer of the electronically stored monetary value;
the payment or part payment of goods or services (or both) provided by any member of a limited network of providers of goods or services, being a network that has a commercial arrangement with the issuer of the electronically stored monetary value for every member of the network to accept the electronically stored monetary value as payment or part payment for goods or services (or both) provided by the member;
the payment or part payment of goods or services (or both) provided by any person within any one or more physical premises owned, operated or managed by the issuer of the electronically stored monetary value, or any related corporation or associated company of that issuer, in a case where all of the following conditions are satisfied:
corporation
“company” and “corporation” have the meanings given by section 4(1) of the Companies Act 1967;
the user of the electronically stored monetary value is not contractually entitled to receive any refund of any unused portion of the electronically stored monetary value in any currency;
if the electronically stored monetary value exceeds $100 (or its equivalent in a foreign currency), any unused portion of the electronically stored monetary value cannot be refunded to the user of the electronically stored monetary value in any currency, unless the issuer identifies and verifies the identity of that user;
the electronically stored monetary value cannot be withdrawn by the user of the electronically stored monetary value, from any payment account maintained for that user, in exchange for any currency;
the amount of electronically stored monetary value contained in any payment account maintained for the electronically stored monetary value cannot exceed $1,000 (or its equivalent in a foreign currency);
any electronically stored monetary value that is, or is intended to be, used only in Singapore in a case where —
all of the electronically stored monetary value is issued by a public authority; or
a public authority has undertaken to be fully liable for the value of all of the electronically stored monetary value issued by the issuer of the electronically stored monetary value, in the event of any default by the issuer in honouring a valid payment made using the electronically stored monetary value;
any electronically stored monetary value, that —
is denominated in any currency;
is issued as part of a scheme, the dominant purpose of which is to promote the purchase of goods, or the use of services, provided by the issuer of the electronically stored monetary value or any merchant specified by that issuer;
is issued to a user of the electronically stored monetary value upon the purchase of goods, or the use of services, provided by the issuer of the electronically stored monetary value or any merchant specified by that issuer;
is used for the payment or part payment of goods or services (or both) provided by the issuer of the electronically stored monetary value or any merchant specified by that issuer;
is not part of a financial product;
cannot be withdrawn by the user of the electronically stored monetary value, from any payment account maintained for that user, in exchange for currency; and
if the electronically stored monetary value exceeds $100 (or its equivalent in a foreign currency), cannot be refunded to the user of the electronically stored monetary value in any currency, unless the issuer of the electronically stored monetary value identifies and verifies the identity of that user;“merchant acquisition service” means any service of accepting and processing a payment transaction for a merchant under a contract between the provider of the service and the merchant, which results in a transfer of money to the merchant pursuant to the payment transaction, regardless whether the provider of the service comes into possession of any money in respect of the payment transaction, in a case where —
the merchant carries on business in Singapore, or is incorporated, formed or registered in Singapore; or
the contract between the provider of the service and the merchant is entered into in Singapore;“money-changing service” means the service of buying or selling foreign currency notes;“non-monetary customer loyalty or reward point” means any digital representation of value, by whatever name called, that satisfies all of the following conditions:
it is not denominated in any currency;
it is issued as part of a scheme, the dominant purpose of which is to promote the purchase of goods, or the use of services, provided by its issuer or any merchant specified by its issuer;
it is issued to a person upon the purchase of goods, or the use of services, provided by its issuer or any merchant specified by its issuer;
it is used for the payment or part payment of, or in exchange for, goods or services (or both) provided by its issuer or any merchant specified by its issuer;
it is not part of a financial product;“related corporation” has the meaning given by section 4(1) of the Companies Act 1967.
4. For the purposes of this Schedule —
a person is deemed to provide a cross‑border money transfer service if that person offers —
to transmit money in Singapore on behalf of a person in Singapore to a person outside Singapore;
to arrange in Singapore for money in Singapore to be transmitted from a person in Singapore to a person outside Singapore;
to receive money in Singapore on behalf of a person in Singapore from a person outside Singapore; or
to arrange in Singapore for money to be received in Singapore by a person in Singapore from a person outside Singapore; [Act 1 of 2021 wef 04/04/2024]
a person is deemed to provide a money‑changing service if the person offers to buy or sell foreign currency notes; and[Act 1 of 2021 wef 04/04/2024]
a person has control over a digital payment token whether the person has control over the digital payment token solely or jointly with one or more other persons.[Act 1 of 2021 wef 04/04/2024]