Money-changing licensees are licensed and regulated under the Payment Services Act (“PS Act”) to conduct only money-changing services ie. the service of buying or selling foreign currency notes. Entities that provide other payment services must hold a Standard Payment Institution Licence or Major Payment Institution Licence.

Application requirements for Money-Changing Licence

The individual applicant, partners or directors of a company applying should have a minimum of 1 year’s relevant working or business experience on a full-time basis.

1. Individual – Sole proprietors, the applicant must be a Singapore citizen.
2. Partnership or Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) - the majority of its partners should be Singapore citizens. If there are only two partners, only one need to be a Singapore Citizen.
3. Singapore-owned Company – More than 50% of the equity shareholdings should be beneficially owned and effectively controlled by Singapore citizens. A majority of the board of directors of the company should be Singapore citizens. If there are only two directors, only one of the directors need to be a Singapore citizen.
4. Foreign -owned Company – For a Singapore incorporated wholly-owned subsidiary of a foreign bank, or a foreign company primarily engaged in money-changing, the parent company needs to:
   • Be of significant size. In case of a foreign bank, it needs to ranks among the top banks in the country where it is incorporated.
   • Possess a good track record and reputation.
   • Be adequately regulated and supervised by its home supervisory authority for AML/CFT.
   
   

Licence fee

Money-changing licenses are required to pay an annual licence fee of S$1,500.

Validity

The money-changing licence is valid until either:

1. The licence is revoked by MAS.
2. The licence lapses in accordance with section 11(1) of the PS Act and regulation 10 of the Payment Services Regulations.
3. The licensee surrenders its licence.

Admission Criteria:

When assessing an application for a money-changing licence, MAS takes into consideration factors such as:

1. Fitness and propriety of the applicant; and in the case of a company, partnership or limited liability partnership, the fitness and propriety of its management.
2. Financial condition of the applicant, and in the case where the applicant is a company, partnership or limited liability partnership, its track record and financial performance in previous years.
3. Ownership and shareholding structure.
4. Qualifications and experience, particularly in operating a money-changing business and in anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT).
5. Business plan and model, including AML/CFT policies and procedures.
6. Whether the public interest will be served by granting a licence.

Standard Payment Institution Licence

Standard payment institutions are licensed and regulated under the Payment Services Act (“PS Act”) to provide payment services below the specified thresholds. The thresholds are set out in section 6(5) of the PS Act. In summary, these are:

1. S$3 million monthly transactions for any payment service (other than e-money account issuance and money changing services).
2. S$6 million monthly transactions for two or more payment services) other than e-money account issuance and money-changing services).
3. S$5 million of daily outstanding e-money.

Application requirements for Standard Payment Institution Licence

1. The applicant must be a Singapore-incorporated company or a foreign corporation registered in Singapore.
2. The applicant must have a permanent place of business or registered office.
3. The applicant must have a minimum base capital of S$100,000.
4. The applicant's board of directors should have either:
   

   At least 1 executive director who is a Singapore Citizen or Singapore Permanent Resident. At least 1 non-executive director who is a Singapore Citizen or Singapore Permanent Resident and at least 1 executive director who is a Singapore Employment Pass Holder.

Admission Criteria:

When assessing an application, MAS takes into consideration factors such as:

1. Fitness and propriety of the controllers and directors.
2. Governance structure.
3. Qualifications and experience, particularly in operating a payment services business and compliance with regulatory requirements.
4. Financial condition and track record.
5. Business plan and model, including operational readiness.
6. Ability to comply with obligations under the PS Act, including compliance, safeguarding, technology risk management and audit arrangements.
7. Regulatory status in other jurisdictions, where applicable.
8. For applicants with a holding company, commitment to operations in Singapore.
9. Whether the public interest will be served by granting a licence.

Licence Fee

Standard payment institutions are required to pay an annual licence fee and the applicable fees depend on the payment services that it is licensed to conduct. The fees are prescribed in the Schedule to the PSR and are, in summary, S$5,000 or the sum of the amounts below for the payment services provided, whichever is higher:

Activity Type	Fees
Account issuance service	S$0
Domestic money transfer service	S$5,000
Cross-border money transfer service	S$5,000
Merchant acquisition service	S$5,000
E-money issuance service	S$5,000
Digital payment token service	S$5,000
Money-changing service	S$1,500

Validity

The standard payment institution licence is valid until either:

1. The licence is revoked by MAS.
2. The licence lapses in accordance with section 11(1) of the PS Act and regulation 10 of the Payment Services Regulations.
3. The licensee surrenders its licence.

Major Payment Institution Licence

Major payment institutions are licensed and regulated under the Payment Services Act(“PS Act”) to provide payment services without being subject to the specified thresholds. The thresholds are set out in section 6(5) of the PS Act. In summary, these are:

1. S$3 million monthly transactions for any payment service (other than e-money account issuance and money changing services).
2. S$6 million monthly transactions for two or more payment services) other than e-money account issuance and money-changing services).
3. S$5 million of daily outstanding e-money.

Application requirements for Major Payment Institution Licence

1. The applicant must be a Singapore-incorporated company or a foreign corporation registered in Singapore.
2. The applicant must have a permanent place of business or registered office.
3. The applicant must have a minimum base capital of S$250,000.
4. The applicant's board of directors should have either:
   

   At least 1 executive director who is a Singapore Citizen or Singapore Permanent Resident. At least 1 non-executive director who is a Singapore Citizen or Singapore Permanent Resident and at least 1 executive director who is a Singapore Employment Pass Holder.

   
   

Admission Criteria:

When assessing an application, MAS takes into consideration factors such as:

1. Fitness and propriety of the controllers and directors.
2. Governance structure.
3. Qualifications and experience, particularly in operating a payment services business and compliance with regulatory requirements.
4. Financial condition and track record.
5. Business plan and model, including operational readiness.
6. Ability to comply with obligations under the PS Act, including compliance, safeguarding, technology risk management and audit arrangements.
7. Regulatory status in other jurisdictions, where applicable.
8. For applicants with a holding company, commitment to operations in Singapore.
9. Whether the public interest will be served by granting a licence.

Licence Fee

Major payment institutions are required to pay an annual licence fee and the applicable fees depend on the payment services that it is licensed to conduct. The fees are prescribed in the Schedule to the PSR and are, in summary, S$10,000 or the sum of the amounts below for the payment services provided, whichever is higher:

Activity Type	Fees
Account issuance service	S$0
Domestic money transfer service	S$10,000
Cross-border money transfer service	S$10,000
Merchant acquisition service	S$10,000
E-money issuance service	S$10,000
Digital payment token service	S$10,000
Money-changing service	S$1,500

Validity

The major payment institution licence is valid until either:

1. The licence is revoked by MAS.
2. The licence lapses in accordance with section 11(1) of the PS Act and regulation 10 of the Payment Services Regulations.
3. The licensee surrenders its licence.