DBS PayNow has been launch for 2 days (along with other
banks in Singapore on 10 Jul 2017 ) and I’ve been testing it out. Before PayNow was launch, I’ve
been in love with the DBS PayLah which was so easy and fun. The simplicity and
the zero cost is especially attractive for small shop owners and merchant who
can’t afford the additional cost for e-transaction which makes it a hit (eg. Hawker
and Ma-Ma Shops). If Singapore is moving towards Cashless, helping these small
shop owners and merchant will truly help achieve that as Singaporean will be
using it more often given it is a part of our daily lives and getting used to
it will be a lot easier.
Before the launch, I thought DBS PayNow will be an
integrated part on top of PayLah for DBS since PayLah already has a growing
trend and supporter. Unfortunately, it is not. Below are my personal comment
and improvement I think it can value add to DBS PayNow or other bank’s PayNow. Disclaimer:
I’ve not tried other bank’s PayNow so has no comment for them. This is only for
DBS PayNow.
I love the fact that the banks are finally working things
out to allow interbank fund transfer without having to add someone’s account in
first, token out, receive authentication SMS and blur blur blur. But I still feel
there are plenty rooms for improvement.
- There is no SMS notification or other form of
notification whenever someone has made a bank transfer. Inorder to find out,
one must login to ibanking to find out who and how much one has received. If you
are waiting for a transaction to come in but has no idea when, this is especially
troublesome to login all the time, not mentioning the auto log out within a
certain timing. Imagine the small merchant having to login like 100 times or
more whenever someone has made a transaction. This will turn down many small
shop owners or merchant to use this function as the authentication of fund received
is too troublesome. Well DBS PayLah has this function and it makes so much more
sense and ease.
- Unlike DBS PayLah, there is a holding wallet, so
all fund comes in will be kept in that wallet. This is easier for fund transfer
tracking. As for DBS PayNow, all transactions go into your bank account
directly. It makes it hard to identify which transaction was made base on PayNow
or your other transaction. Imagine if the small merchant having to open another
account just for easy tracking.
- It will be alot more fun to have a QR code
function for payment like the DBS PayLah. Currently DBS PayLah allows merchant
to print out their QR code and paste it at their store for payment and merchant
will received a notification when there is a payment received. We now must type
in the receiver’s hp number, although not much to complain about as it is only 8
digits numbers but don’t you think it is more fun with QR code and easier for
merchant? If we can retrieve the user’s hp number within our hp contacts will
be a plus point for frequent transaction (PayLah allows this).
The notification for fund received will be a crucial point
whether a small shops owner or merchant will be using it or not. I really hope
DBS PayNow will soon integrate with DBS PayLah as PayLah is so much fun. I hope
one day, PayLah’s notification without needing to login and PayNow’s cross banks
transfer will soon come together and benefit more user.
