SINGAPORE - The peer-to-peer transfer service PayNow is expanding its services to include businesses, it said on Wednesday (June 20).

The new service, which starts on Aug 13, will allow business owners and the Singapore Government to link their unique entity numbers to local bank accounts.

This will let them receive payments instantaneously via PayNow Corporate without having to disclose details like the actual account numbers.

Customers can also opt to scan merchant or individual Quick Response (QR) codes to make transfers as PayNow Corporate will be included in the Singapore QR code system.

"With the launch of PayNow Corporate, both businesses and retail customers can enjoy the same convenience of a simpler way to transfer funds 24/7, 365 days a year," said Ms Ong-Ang Ai Boon, director of the Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS).

She said that since the launch of PayNow a year ago, more than a million people in Singapore have used the service and more than $900 million has been transferred.

The seven participating banks remain the same as in the first phase of PayNow: Citibank, DBS, HSBC, Maybank, OCBC Bank, Standard Chartered Bank and UOB.

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Mr Rohit Joshi, head of global liquidity and cash management at HSBC Singapore, said: "The beauty of PayNow is that it allows payments to be made without the need to obtain bank details from beneficiaries.

"This is especially useful for one-off payments like insurance claims and casual labour wages. Remitters don't need to keep track of payee details. That data is maintained at a central depository managed by a third party."