E-money and payments · MAS
Singapore payment institution licensing under the Payment Services Act (MAS)
Singapore consolidated payments regulation into a single activity-based framework under the Payment Services Act, with major and standard payment institution tiers scaled to transaction volumes. It is the most coherent payments regime in Asia and the regional headquarters choice for most international firms.
The regulator
The Monetary Authority of Singapore is both central bank and integrated financial supervisor, and it is widely regarded as one of the most technically capable regulators anywhere. It is open to innovation and entirely unsentimental about firms that cannot evidence their controls.
What the licence permits
Regulated under the MAS
- Provide account issuance, domestic and cross-border transfers
- Conduct merchant acquisition and e-money issuance
- Operate money-changing and digital payment token services where licensed
- Base regional operations in a leading Asian financial centre
Who it suits
Firms building an Asian regional business that need a credible headquarters, and groups whose institutional counterparties expect a top-tier Asian regulator.
Market access
Access to the Singapore market and standing across Asia. Other Asian markets license separately; there is no regional passport.
What to weigh
MAS expects substance and applies its standards consistently regardless of firm size, and the cost of qualified local compliance staff reflects intense competition for them.
We run the Singapore application end to end
Whether you build from new or acquire an existing licensed entity, BrokLicense handles incorporation, the regulator application, the AML and compliance framework, safeguarding and banking arrangements, and the operating stack. You stay the principal. We do the work, in confidence, and stay on for compliance once you are live.
Cost, capital, and timelines depend on your model and are set out in a first consultation, under NDA, not published here.
Other permissions in Singapore
Related reading
- EMI vs Payment Institution: Which Licence Does Your Payments Business Actually Need?An e-money licence and a payment institution licence look interchangeable and are not. One lets you hold stored value, the other only moves it. Here is the line.
- How to Get an EMI Licence: What Electronic Money Authorisation Actually InvolvesAn EMI application is a business case, not a form. Here is what regulators examine, in what order, and where applications realistically stall.
- Where to Base an EMI: Choosing a Jurisdiction for an E-Money LicenceEvery EEA e-money licence passports to the same thirty markets, so the choice is not about reach. It is about the regulator, the banking, and the substance you can staff.
- Safeguarding: The Requirement That Decides Whether Your EMI Survives SupervisionSafeguarding is the single obligation supervisors test hardest at payments firms, and the one most often got wrong. Here is what compliant actually looks like.
E-money and payments in other Asia-Pacific jurisdictions
All jurisdictionsDiscuss your mandate in confidence
Every engagement begins under a mutual NDA. Set out the firm you intend to operate and the timeline you are working to, and you leave the first consultation with a recommended jurisdiction, the route to the licence, and a defined scope of work.
Prefer email? info@broklicense.com