SINGAPORE - MediaOutReach - 24 October 2018 - UNPay and Tencent Research Institute have jointly publishedthe first of a series of white papers on the payment landscape focusing on SoutheastAsia. Dubbed "The Venturing Out" series, the first paper centred on the Singaporemarket, was developed to help Chinese payment companies looking to ventureoverseas, have a better understanding of the local regulations and policies.

As the fourth largestinternational financial hub after New York, London and Hong Kong, Singapore hasan established payment infrastructure and a comprehensive payment regulatoryframework. To gain a deeper understanding of Singapore's payment market, theresearch teams from UNPay and Tencent, put together a detailed outline of the country'sregulatory framework, structure and policies.

While the use ofe-payments has been rising steadily over the past few years, interoperabilityamong the myriad of e-payments methods has been a growing concern in Singapore.To overcome this issue, a taskforce was set up to develop a common QR code for thenation. In the country's push for a cashless society, the inclusion ofelectronic payment was even set as one of the five strategic pillars in its SmartNation initiative. The common QR code, also known as the SGQR code wasofficially launched on 17 September this year, becoming the world's firstunified universal payment QR code.

While Singapore'smobile internet infrastructure is well developed, with a high digital literacy,this digital awareness has not translated into actual usage of e-paymentmethods. According to the white paper, it has been found that traditionalpayment methods such as cash and checks are still common in small transactionsin Singapore. Among the commonly used payment methods, cash is ranked secondonly to the stored value instrument (SVF). However, with strong support fromthe government and the industry players, there is a lot of room for developmentin  Singapore's emerging payment market.

Based on statisticsfrom market research and business intelligence portal, Statista, the numberof e-payment users in Singapore will reach 4.6 million in 2018, which accountsfor more than 80% of Singapore's total population. The total transaction volumewill reach 11.777 billion US dollars, with a total transaction volume of 12.4%.The average annual compound growth rate is expected to increase to a total of18.796 billion US dollars in 2022.

With these data, it isclear that the global payment market is developing rapidly; innovations in paymentare also emerging in droves. China's payment companies which have been beenspearheading the fintech revolution, are now actively looking to bring theirpayment solutions overseas. "Venturing Out"  has thus become the new normal, paving the wayfor these Chinese payment companies to maintain their lead globally.

 "Currently,China's payment industry has become one of the most active payment forces inthe world, and is more capable than ever to lead in international arenas,"expressed Mr Zhang Zhenghua, Founder and CEO of UNPay, who was also the researchproject consultant.

"As a fintech open serviceplatform, UNPay aims to make advanced payment technology available globally. Westrive to open up payment capabilities, the global payment industry chain, aswell as empower finanical institutions. In the coming months, we will bereleasing our white paper on the payment industry in another country. Pleasestay tuned for that!" added Mr Zhang.

Pleaserefer to this link for a copy of the white paper: https://www.tisi.org/Public/Uploads/file/20181018/20181018123839_80459.pdf