PayPal will be ending its Personal Payments service for users in Singapore starting Wednesday due to "regulatory instructions".

In an e-mail to PayPal users in the country, the company said: "In accordance with regulatory instructions, we would like to inform you that Personal Payments will not be available in Singapore with effect from February 20, 2013."

However, users are still able to make commercial payments for purchases of goods or services with their PayPal accounts. The payment service provider said users can still shop and pay at online merchants and receive payments from sales and trading.

On its Web site, PayPal stated that its Personal Payments service is used for sending money as a gift, returning money owed to friends, cash advances and paying bills such as rent or utilities.

[Update] In a statement to ZDNet Asia, PayPal declined to elaborate on the regulatory instructions. "In general, we are committed to complying with all applicable laws and regulations in every jurisdiction that we do business in," the spokesperson said.