The Monetary Authority of Singapore imposed composition penalties totalling S$960,000 on five Major Payment Institutions licensed for cross-border money transfer services on 27 June 2025, the regulator confirmed in an enforcement notice published on its website. The penalties were imposed under the Payment Services Act 2019 for breaches of anti-money laundering and counter-financing of terrorism requirements.
Individual penalties ranged from S$110,000 to S$280,000 per institution. The five institutions are Remsea, Arcade Plaza Traders, J-Dee Remittance Services, Mobile Community Tech and OxPay SG. The regulator confirmed that the violations occurred over a period stretching from March 2020 to August 2023, meaning all of the conduct took place after the Payment Services Act came into force on 28 January 2020.
FAILURES IN CUSTOMER SCREENING AND BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP INQUIRIES
The AML/CFT deficiencies identified by MAS across the five institutions included, among others, two areas of compliance failure. First, the affected payment institutions failed to screen their customers adequately against money laundering and terrorism financing information sources that licensed payment firms are required to consult as part of their customer acceptance and ongoing monitoring processes. Second, the institutions did not make sufficient or systematic inquiries into the beneficial ownership structures behind the accounts and entities using their platforms.
ENFORCEMENT UNDER THE PAYMENT SERVICES ACT 2019
The Payment Services Act brought Singapore's entire payment sector — including electronic money issuers, digital payment token service providers, and cross-border money transfer operators — under a single licensing and regulatory regime.
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