Banking & Payments · Singapore · Asia

Opening a bank or fintech account in Singapore

A plain-English rundown of how banking and payments work in Singapore, Singapore — the regulator to verify, the currency you'll transact in, how local accounts are addressed, and the rails that move your money. Treat these as the checks to make before you commit, not marketing.

The essentials

Four things worth confirming before you open or fund an account in Singapore.

Regulator

Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS)

In Singapore, banks are licensed under the Banking Act 1970, and payment or e-money firms hold either a Major or Standard Payment Institution licence under the Payment Services Act 2019. Verify any provider against the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) Financial Institutions Directory before trusting it with your money.

Official regulator site

Currency

Singapore dollar (SGD)

Local accounts and everyday payments in Singapore are denominated in Singapore dollar (SGD). Providers may also let you hold other currencies, but domestic transfers settle in SGD.

Account format

How accounts are addressed

Singapore does not use IBAN for domestic payments. A local SGD transfer is addressed with the bank's code plus that bank's own account number — commonly 9 to 17 digits — and only cross-border SWIFT wires fall outside that scheme.

Payments & transfers

Moving money locally

FAST moves money between banks 24/7 almost instantly, and PayNow lets you send SGD with just a mobile number, NRIC/FIN, or company UEN. GIRO covers recurring debits and credits, while high-value payments settle through the MAS-linked systems.

Before you open an account

Confirm the provider is licensed — check Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) before you deposit money.
Expect to transact in Singapore dollar (SGD) for anything domestic.
Have the correct account details to hand — the format above is what a local transfer needs.
Check the transfer rail and timing so you know when money will actually arrive.

Providers to compare

Verified finance and payment partners available to people in Singapore. These are commercial partnerships — do your own checks against the regulator above before signing up.

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