KPay secures MAS in-principle approval for major payment institution licence

[SINGAPORE] Fintech firm KPay on Monday (Jul 27) said that its local subsidiary, KPay Merchant Service (Singapore), has received in-principle approval from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) for a major payment institution (MPI) licence.

The approval, granted under the Payment Services Act 2019, enables the company to expand its regulated payment offerings in the city-state.

Subject to the fulfilment of MAS’ specified conditions and final regulatory approval, the MPI licence will allow KPay to provide merchant acquisition services, as well as domestic and cross-border money transfers.

KPay serves more than 10,000 local small and medium-sized enterprise merchants. Its local client base primarily lies within the retail and F&B sectors.

With the anticipated final licence, local merchants can “expect a faster onboarding process, stronger settlement and funding reporting, and a significantly enhanced merchant portal”, KPay said.

The company currently utilises Singapore as one of its dual headquarters – the other is in Hong Kong.

It noted that the MAS licensing framework “strengthened KPay’s governance, risk management and operational capabilities – establishing Singapore as the natural springboard for its Asia-Pacific expansion”.

Davis Chan, co-founder and CEO of KPay, said the in-principle approval “demonstrates the maturity of the group’s compliance and operational standards”.

“Singapore is, for us, more than a market. It is the model,” he said.

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“The standards we have built here, and the speed at which we serve merchants, define what KPay aspires to deliver in every market we enter.”

Regionally, KPay provides financial management and business operation platforms to more than 95,000 merchants in Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia and Japan.