Singapore Bank Consortium Releases Blockchain Prototypes to Promote Faster Intra-Bank Payments

MAS Managing Director Ravi Menon announced the measures in a speech on Tuesday at the Singapore FinTech Festival, a glitzy networking event that links banking executives with startups.

In the area of retail payments, the MAS and the Bank of Thailand have agreed to work together to link PayNow and Thailand's PromptPay. This tie-up will enable someone in Singapore to send money instantly and securely to someone in Thailand, and vice versa, using just their mobile phone numbers.

The MAS has also signed an agreemet with its Polish counterpart the Polish Financial Supervision Authority (KNF) which lays out a fintech framework for co-operation and referrals between the two regulators as it continues to use the FinTech Festival to publicise a stream of initiatives.

"We are pleased that the Singapore FinTech Festival has grown this year, to become the world's largest fintech festival", said Sopnendu Mohanty, Chief Fintech Officer of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).

They will run pilots using distributed ledger technology, cryptography, quantum computing and big data, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning.

He added that a fintech innovation hub will be launched at 80 Robinson Road, which now houses Lattice 80, a fintech "innovation village" that occupies two floors.

The MAS is also launching a $27 million Artificial Intelligence and Data Analytics Grant.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) will test and develop distributed ledger technology (DLT) with institutions in the United States and Hong Kong.

The new grant will support the adoption of AI and data analytics in financial institutions and be used to help professionals in the financial sector to gain new skills.

The press release said a Joint Working Committee comprising the MAS, the HKMA, the National Trade Platform Programme Office (Singapore) and Hong Kong Interbank Clearing Limited will lead the project at the start, and it will invite other markets to participate after finalizing the governance structure and implementation plan.

This is expected to go live in early 2019.

It is expected to attract more than 25,000 participants from over 100 countries.