Singapore payments code targets hidden fees and misleading claims

Voluntary standards call for upfront disclosure of transaction costs.

The Singapore FinTech Association (SFA) has introduced a Payments Industry Code of Conduct for payment service providers’ dealings with customers and other industry members.

The code applies to licensed and exempt payment service providers offering regulated fiat-currency services under the Payment Services Act 2019. It does not apply to digital payment token services.

The SFA said compliance is voluntary and based on self-assessment.

Payment providers may become “Code Adherents” after assessing their policies, processes and systems against the standards and publicly declaring their adherence. 

Adherents should disclose the full cost of a transaction before customers proceed, including the principal amount, fees, exchange rate, mark-up, and final transaction amount.

They should not introduce mandatory charges partway through a transaction or market a service as “free” or “zero fee” when the total cost includes an undisclosed exchange-rate mark-up or spread.

Moreover, providers should not exclude their own costs whilst highlighting competitors’ fees in a way that creates a misleading impression of savings.

The code also covers fraud prevention, card-dispute liability, data privacy, security and operational resilience.

For card-based services, providers should adopt liability standards aligned with those applying to banks under the Association of Banks in Singapore Code of Practice, including limits on customer liability for unauthorised transactions.

In the event of a notifiable data breach, adherents should inform affected users and the Personal Data Protection Commission as soon as practicable and within three calendar days of assessing the breach.

The code is intended to supplement, rather than replace, requirements under the Payment Services Act and Monetary Authority of Singapore regulations. 

SFA, along with industry participants, said it would be reviewed and updated as the payments sector develops.