DBS Bank in Singapore has become the first Asian bank to sign up for the Mastercard MoneySend remittance programme.
DBS cardholders or online banking customers who subscribe to the service will be able to transfer money across the MasterCard global network to more than 50 banks in India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, and Thailand.
Customers can remit up to S$1000 per day, to a maximum of S$3000 per month. Users will be issued e-receipts and can view their online transaction history any time.
Mr Vincent Tan, managing director of DBS cards & unsecured loans (Singapore) says: "We're launching the service in these key markets which have the most relevance to our customers...Discussions are already underway with MasterCard to expand the network of markets as well as participating banks."
Based on statistics from Asian Development Bank and DBS Internet Banking, over S$1 billion is transferred annually from Singapore to Asian countries such as India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Philippines.