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PETALING JAYA: OCBC (Malaysia) Bhd has launched OCBC OneCollect, the country’s first merchant cross-border Quick Response Code (QR Code) collection service.

The service enables any member of the Singapore banking public with a mobile app from any of Singapore’s PayNow participating banks to begin making Singapore dollar payments to eligible merchants in Malaysia.

The PayNow participating banks are OCBC Bank, Bank of China, Citibank Singapore Limited, DBS Bank/POSB, HSBC, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Limited, Maybank, Standard Chartered Bank and UOB.

In a statement, OCBC Bank’s managing director & head of global transaction banking Chong Lee Ying said the move is expected to benefit both local small businesses and visitors and business-folk from Singapore who throng to various parts of Malaysia.

“What this means is that businesses in Malaysia that operate in high volumes of low-value transactions are set to benefit. This would include those in retail, health and wellness, pharmacy, tuition and extra-curricular centres, food and beverages, and so forth.

“In addition, our customers – the merchants – need not have a foreign currency account; they can expect to receive their collections in ringgit,” she said

Chong added that there would be significant benefits to the consumer, merchants and the overall economy.

“Merchants will find it easy to sign up for OCBC OneCollect as the mobile app can be easily downloaded. They will be able to register for the service through the app without the need for any paper submissions.

“Initially, our efforts will centre on selected clients in Melaka and Johor before venturing out further in the second quarter of the year,” she said.

Singapore’s PayNow is comparable to Malaysia’s DuitNow.

Through PayNow’s penetration into Malaysia, businesses can better serve their customers by collecting these cross-border payments in a more secure, immediate and transparent manner.

Prior to the introduction of OCBC OneCollect, QR collection in Malaysia could only be made for ringgit transactions through e-wallet service providers and limited banks’ closed loop platforms.

As at end-2019, there were more than three million individuals and 129,000 business users registered with the PayNow service, with transaction value exceeding SG$12 billion.

OCBC Bank also currently has 3,000 merchant customers in Malaysia and aims to grow this number to 10,000 by 2021.

“For this year, we will not charge any fees. Merchants will be able to receive their settlement as early as two working days after the transactions are done. This is faster compared to other cross-border settlement options, which may take up to 14 days after the transaction.

“More importantly, settlement will be received in ringgit, meaning there are no currency exchange risks and merchants being burdened by currency exchange fluctuations,” said Chong.

Source: https://www.thesundaily.my/business/ocbc-launches-malaysia-s-first-cross-border-collection-service-FC2051513