Singapore – Google’s digital wallet platform Google Pay has made a number of enhancements exclusively for Singapore users that will see an easier and further seamless use of features on the app.
One of the latest updates is Google pay’s integration with Singapore’s national real-time payment service PayNow, which now allows users in Singapore to send money to anybody in the country, even if they’re not on Google Pay, with users only needing the person’s phone number.
The feature has been previously introduced for OCBC customers earlier in the year, and now Google Pay will be extending it to customers of DBS Paylah! and Standard Chartered Bank.
Customers of the said banks can also use their linked accounts to pay any business that has a PayNow QR code displayed, allowing merchants to receive payments in their corporate bank accounts.
In addition to the improved transaction process, Singapore will be the first country where Google Pay users can form groups to organize and manage payments, as well as divide bills and other joint expenses within the app.
Google Pay has also announced added features for delivery and movie bookings, anticipating that more Singaporeans will dine out and watch movies amid lesser COVID-related restrictions.
Singapore users can now browse cuisines and order takeout or delivery with the Order Food feature on the app. Meanwhile, for movie enjoyment of the users, Google Pay has just added Golden Village locations in addition to Shaw Theatres, giving moviegoers a total of 174 cinema venues to choose from across Singapore. Users can now be able to skip queuing by booking a movie ticket and reserving a seat instantly within the app.
To make it fun to use Google Pay, the app will be giving out rewards for transactions in the form of virtual scratchcards, which users can virtually ‘scratch’ to find out a corresponding prize. Users can earn scratchcards with instant cashback rewards on qualifying transactions, with bonuses when a user has successfully referred Google Pay to a friend.
Director of Engineering Patrick Teo said that the motley of enhancements in the platform were undertaken on Google’s belief that Payments don’t take place in isolation, but are part of the daily interactions users have with friends, family and local businesses.
“We built Google Pay around these everyday relationships, to make it quick and easy to transact with the people and businesses you know. In just a few taps, you’ll be able to see a past payment with a business, or find a friend to pay. Plus, sending money to someone new is as easy as sending a chat message—just start entering their phone number,” said Teo.
