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SINGAPORE: Consumers wishing to use their credit cards may delight in difficulties after Wirecard ceases service in Singapore, prompting local businesses to look for other payment providers.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) had earlier this week asked the beleaguered German company to prevent payment here and roll back the budget for all its customers until October 14.
Wirecard’s main business activities in Singapore are to process merchant invoices and corporate factor prepaid cards.
Visa stated that it suspended payment authorizations for Wirecard on October 1, following the DSS.
“This means there may be disruptions for Visa cardholders when dealing with a number of merchants using Wirecard in Singapore,” a Visa spokesperson said Friday (October 2).
“Visa works hard with partners and consumers who are affected by the termination of Wirecard’s acquisition in Singapore by helping them migrate to service providers of choice to minimize certain outages,” he said.
Visa added that its priority is the integrity of its payment formula and “protect the interests of consumers, merchants and customers. “
Mastercard also said it runs to restrict the outage.
“Our priority is to make sure other people can continue to use their Mastercards,” said a spokesperson. “We will continue to work with all parties to take the necessary steps to restrict interruptions in transactions. “
Mastercard referred merchants to a list of customers (service providers processing debit and credit card bills for consumers) on its website.
Wirecard, based in Munich, collapsed in June after its AUDITOR EY refused to point out its 2019 accounts because it was unable to verify the lifestyle of 1. 9 billion euros ($3 billion) in monetary balances accepted as true with accounts, or about a quarter of its accounts. balance sheet.
Subsequently, the company stated that the amount never existed and has filed an insolvency application with its creditors for EUR 3. 5 billion.
Wirecard consumers in Singapore come with taxi giant ComfortDelGro, who in 2008 subcontracted the progression of the cashless payment formula for their taxis to the German company.
“We are aware of the DSS directive on Wirecard services. Lately we are working with several select suppliers to minimize the effect on our customers,” said Tammy Tan, Director of Corporate Communications at ComfortDelGro Group.
Contactless payment company EZ-Link said it has worked with Wirecard in the past to provide cashless answers and card top-up services.
“Since Wirecard filed an insolvency application in June, we have begun to contact and actively contact our business partners to facilitate their transition to purchasers,” said an EZ-Link spokesperson.
“While there may be disruptions for traders who have not yet made the change, we will continue to work hard with them to ensure an elegant transition and business continuity,” EZ-Link said, encouraging consumers to top up their cards. Link cellular app.
BANKS RECEIVING MORE QUESTIONS FROM AFFECTED TRADERS
While Wirecard consumers are looking for alternatives, banks told CNA that they have won a lot of inquiries from traders who can’t choose not to participate.
“Since July, we have been receiving requests from merchants to transfer from Wirecard to OCBC. Since then, we’ve incorporated several new retailers, restaurants and even education,” said Vincent Tan, card manager at OCBC Bank. .
He added that OCBC Bank had also noticed more requests on Friday morning, while Wirecard had ended the previous day.
The bank has already “strengthened” its workforce to meet as many applications in this era to ensure that traders can resume payment operations as temporarily as possible, Mr Tan said.
“Many new merchants have sought our recommendation for more than two months on how to create more certainty around their payment processing features or belong to UOB’s commercial network,” said Choo Wan Sim of Singapore, UOB’s director of cards and payments.
Traders come from various sectors, adding retail, e-commerce, supermarkets, food and beverages and insurance, he said.
UOB advises merchants on payment settlement options, such as a unified point-of-sale terminal that liquidates a wide variety of payment schemes in a single terminal. The bank also shows merchants how to settle for new payment systems like Alipay and WeChat Pay. .
Meanwhile, a DBS spokesman said, “DBS has been working with traders to help them transition for several months, and they also have other payment strategies if needed. “
Completion of Wirecard’s payment service would “temporarily” disrupt the payment processing market, said Dr. Emir Hrnjic, director of FinTech and principal investigator at the Asian Institute of Digital Finance at the National University of Singapore (NUS).
Wirecard’s bankruptcy in Germany has “frightened” consumers of its subsidiaries around the world, Dr. Hrnjic said, and investors were “immediately” switched to other payment processing corporations after the news was announced.
“The first consumers to leave shipping were low-risk corporations that have seamlessly joined through their competitors. “
This competition comes with NETS, PayNow and SGQR, who are “capable and willing” to settle for Wirecard customers.
However, small businesses may be affected if they are transferred to NETS because it is more expensive, he said.
However, Wirecard’s competency may simply be offering “innovative solutions” to costs, Dr. Hrnjic said.
Germany will conduct a full parliamentary investigation into Wirecard Cave on 8 October.