The Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS) announced Monday the launch of two new payments solutions – electronic deferred payment (EDP) and EDP+ – to support the transition to e-payments for cheque users.

This follows a joint announcement by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and ABS on December 5, 2024 on the launch of electronic deferred payment solutions in Mid-2025 and extension of deadline for cessation of corporate cheques, ABS said in a statement.

The EDP solutions address the use cases of deferred payments in place of cheques and complement Singapore’s existing suite of e-payment solutions, including PayNow, FAST, GIRO and MEPS+.

ABS, in partnership with the seven Domestic Systemically Important Banks (D-SIBs) – Citibank Singapore, DBS Bank, HSBC, Maybank, OCBC Singapore, Standard Chartered Bank and
UOB – will avail the new EDP and EDP+ solutions progressively to enable deferred payments currently facilitated by cheques.

Examples of use cases of deferred payments include supplier payments and deposits for project tenders, and rental payments and balloting / purchase options for properties.

EDP and EDP+ are accessible via the banks’ digital banking platforms and offer both individuals and companies a convenient way to make deferred payments and indicate an
intent to pay, without the need for a physical cheque.

The solutions allow payers to transfer funds using a mobile number, NRIC/FIN, UEN, or bank account number.

Both payer and payee will receive real-time updates on the status of the funds transfer, providing traceability and visibility of when and why a payment was made, from whom and to whom.

The key difference between EDP and EDP+ is:
EDP: Funds are deducted from the payer’s account only when payee requests payment
EDP+: Funds are deducted immediately from the payer’s account upon issuance of the EDP+, ensuring the amount cannot be used for other transactions.
This reduces the risk of non-payment due to insufficient funds in the payer’s account, providing greater assurance to payees as compared to EDP.

The EDP solutions are the latest addition to Singapore’s existing suite of e-payment solutions such as PayNow, FAST, GIRO and MEPS+.

Cheque users are encouraged to adopt these available e-payment methods to support their transition as corporate cheques are being phased out.

Corporate cheque users are reminded that from January 1, 2026, all banks will stop issuing new SGD corporate cheque books and from January 1, 2027, all banks will stop processing SGD corporate cheques.

Corporate cheque payees should present their cheques for clearing well before January 1, 2027 to ensure that their cheques can be processed before the deadline.

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