Local Payments

What is GIRO?

The GIRO is a tripartite mechanism between the billing institution, the customer and the bank. The authorization of direct debits is a contractual relationship between the consumer and the purchase offer; the bank is the intermediary in this tripartite relationship and helps implement the authorized direct debits.

Today, GIROs are widely used by consumers to pay bills to government agencies and the private sector. Direct transfers are particularly useful for payments that are fixed in nature and amount. In the public sector, GIRO has become the only means of payment for some fees, such as MOM’s Foreign Domestic Worker Levy and CAAS seasonal parking. Many other public sector fees and charges, such as school and miscellaneous fees, rent, seasonal parking and IHT, are also largely paid by direct transfer.

In simple terms, GIRO allows you to pay the billing authority directly from your bank account each month.

How do I apply for a GIRO?

You can register as a direct payer by completing a Direct Debit Authorisation Form.

Your Direct Debit GIRO application will take approximately 14 days to process. In the meantime, continue to pay your bills by other means (such as cheques). Once your application has been approved, the Direct Debit GIRO arrangement will take effect.

Your bank can also offer to let you sign up for a Direct Transfer Arrangement through its online channel.

There are currently no fees or charges for setting up a Direct Transfer Arrangement GIRO.

If the amount in your account is insufficient, the GIRO will be suspended or terminated

If you do not have sufficient funds in your bank account to pay the transfer deduction, you may be charged a service fee. Some billing agencies may do one or all of the following:

• Notify you that the deduction was not successful. Suggest alternative payment methods or extend the payment period.
• Recover from you the fees charged to the bank for the unsuccessful deduction.
• Suspend or terminate the direct debit GIRO arrangement and require you to pay by other means.

Note：

It is necessary to confirm with your billing agency or bank whether it is possible to set a due date or limit for your transfer payment GIRO. Setting a limit may result in an unsuccessful direct transfer GIRO deduction if the amount deducted exceeds the limit. This may result in the bank or BO charging a fee.

FAST

Launched on 17 March 2014, FAST is a new electronic funds transfer service that allows customers of participating banks to transfer S$ funds from one bank to another Singaporean bank almost instantly. FAST This transfer is secure and available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Users can make inter-bank fund transfers of up to S$200,000 per transaction.

To use FAST, you will need:

• A savings or current account at one of the FAST participating banks. The recipient should also have an account at a participating bank.
• Recipient’s bank account number. A bank account number is required, the name is for reference only.
• Log in to your bank’s online banking service and select the FAST fast transfer method.

You can find out the status of your funds transfer through Online Banking or the notification services provided by your bank, such as email or SMS.

The current FAST usage of the three major local banks in Singapore is shown in the table below.

Compare FAST, GIRO and Cheque

Types of fees include:

1. Telegraphic charges: telegraphic charges from the remitting bank
2. Commissions: Remittance Bank Charges
3. Agency Fee: A fee charged by a bank’s correspondent bank, subject to certain conditions

Usually, the following information is required for a bank wire transfer request:

1. Name, address and account number
2. Currency code and amount of payment
3. Name and address of the receiving bank/beneficiary bank
4. Beneficiary bank routing code
5. Name of the intermediary bank (if any)
6. Payment to beneficiary account number or IBAN in European countries or the UK
7. Complete name of beneficiaries

Note

Only authorized signers of the account may sign the wire transfer request form. If the form is amended, the signer only needs to be one of the authorized signers who meets the account signature requirements.

Written notification of a successful wire transfer is usually received within 2 – 3 business days.