DBS Bank Targets Singapore’s Corporate Check Problem

In its latest initiative to promote the digitization of B2B payments, Singapore’s DBS Bank said it’s working to support its corporate customers’ shift away from the paper check.

Reports in The Business Times on Thursday (April 5) said DBS Bank wants a 30 percent reduction in corporate check use by 2020. According to the Head of Digital at the financial institution’s Institutional Banking Group, Raof Latiff, businesses are already demanding digital solutions at a greater pace than before.

He told the publication he has seen a fivefold increase in the number of businesses customers in the last year requesting digital payment solutions to be integrated into the bank’s service offerings.

“Consumer behavior is changing so quickly, and businesses find themselves having to stay abreast with changing payment demands,” he said. “The man on the street wants to receive their payments instantly, without the need to bank in a check. The ubiquity of the mobile phone means that check payments will soon be a thing of the past, and forward-looking companies are reworking their business processes to stay relevant, save time and serve their customers better.”

DBS Bank offers business clients its PayNow solution, which deploys an API to enable businesses to pay their corporate customers. PayNow can support payments between seven banks in the nation.

In 2016, DBS Bank launched an initiative to reduce corporate professionals’ reliance on physical tokens to facilitate payments for their organizations. The company launched an update to its IDEAL Mobile payment solution, offering corporates and SMBs the ability to use their mobile device as a token to initiate payments.

Singapore is one of the world’s busiest hubs for financial services innovation. Officials had previously introduced legislative reforms in an effort to support FinTech innovation and embrace digital payments, with the Monetary Authority of Singapore moving to streamline existing rules for a clearer regulatory framework that makes it easier for businesses to offer payment-related services.