IMDA Partners DBS, OCBC and UOB on InvoiceNow and PayNow Through Banking Solutions3 min read

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The Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) implemented Singapore’s nationwide  e-invoicing network, now called InvoiceNow, in 2019 to help businesses improve efficiency,  reduce cost, receive payment faster, facilitate cross-border business transactions, and  reduce our impact on the environment by using lesser paper invoices. To help even more  businesses digitalise, IMDA has partnered DBS, OCBC and UOB to develop solutions, 

leveraging the nationwide e-invoicing network, InvoiceNow, with the PayNow e-payment  system. InvoiceNow and PayNow both uses the Unique Entity Number (UEN) to help  businesses send or receive invoices and collect payments easily. By registering for both  services, business can then enjoy business efficiency, cost reduction and seamless payments. 

Ms Jane Lim, Assistant Chief Executive, IMDA, said: “Within the past three months, we have  seen an exponential increase in businesses coming onboard e-invoicing. Today, there are  about 25,000 companies on InvoiceNow, up from 1,000 at the beginning of the year. Our aim  is to drive further adoption to benefit more businesses, as IMDA leads Singapore’s digital  transformation in this sector. We are excited to partner with DBS, OCBC and UOB, to co create innovative solutions to strengthen for businesses that will fortify Singapore’s  competitiveness in the global digital economy.”  

Mr John Laurens, Group Head of Global Transaction Services, DBS Bank, said, “Driving  interoperability of our digital solutions is key to unlocking Singapore’s Smart Nation ambition,  and this is where the integration of InvoiceNow with PayNow shows great potential as it  dovetails with the nation’s push towards a unified e-payments system and cashless society.  At DBS, digital has been at the forefront of our agenda for several years now and we see  digital solutions as enablers to guide corporates, especially SMEs, as they reinvent their  operational blueprints to adapt to the changing business landscape. As the bank with the  largest PayNow market share in Singapore, we will continue to actively engage our corporate  customers on the benefits of digital to drive greater adoption of InvoiceNow and PayNow to  ensure they have their best foot forward as we embark into the next normal.”  

Mr Melvyn Low, Head, Global Transaction Banking, OCBC Bank, said, “Before the pandemic,  there might have been SMEs who put digitalisation on the backburner but now, there is no  question that going digital is a necessity. InvoiceNow and PayNow in particular, are two  initiatives that have seen strong take up from our business banking customers. The  complementary nature of the invoice and payment cycles means that businesses can  digitalise their cash conversion cycle end to end to enjoy even more convenience and time  savings. Our customers can issue and receive e-invoices and use PayNow to pay these  invoices, through our digital business banking platform Velocity@ocbc, for a seamless  experience.” 

Mr Mervyn Koh, Country Head of Business Banking Singapore, UOB, said, “Since the launch  of the nationwide e-invoicing framework, we have been helping our customers realise the  tangible benefits that e-invoicing can bring to their business, including greater cash flow  certainty. With the expansion of the PayNow model to cover payments for e-invoices under  InvoiceNow, businesses will be able to receive payments more quickly and thus, shorten the  time taken from invoicing to receiving payment. This will also help in increasing the use of  electronic payments for business-to-business transactions, an important last mile in  Singapore’s cashless drive. We expect that the launch of InvoiceNow will drive greater  adoption of e-invoicing, thereby creating a virtuous circle where businesses adopt and benefit  from digital solutions.”

Businesses that register for InvoiceNow on or before 31 December 2020 can receive an E Invoicing Registration Grant (ERG) of $200, which will be paid out through PayNow  Corporate. The ERG was announced in March 2020 as part of the Resilience Budget and  $10 million has been set aside for the Grant.

For more information on e-invoicing, please visit: https://www.imda.gov.sg/einvoice.