Date: For Parliament Sitting on 7 July 2026

Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament

Ms Joan Pereira, Tanjong Pagar GRC

Question

Ms Joan Pereira: To ask the Prime Minister and Minister for Finance whether the Government will consider working with the Association of Banks in Singapore to permit registered PayNow retail users to adopt nicknames for their display names on a case-by-case basis, especially where such users have names that may be easily guessed by scammers from the automated display names generated under PayNow’s new policy.

Answer by Mr Gan Kim Yong, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade and Industry, and Chairman of MAS:

1. The Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS) discontinued the PayNow nickname feature as scammers had been exploiting the use of nicknames to impersonate legitimate entities and trusted individuals. Scammers would change the nicknames of accounts that they had obtained control over, to deceive victims to transfer funds into these accounts.

2. Allowing nicknames on a case-by-case basis undermines the purpose of the initiative, as PayNow participating institutions are unable to assess the legitimacy of such requests and may inadvertently approve nicknames that could later be used for impersonation scams. 

3. ABS adopted the current name display format, following industry and consumer consultations, with the aim of providing payers sufficient information to transact with confidence while preserving a reasonable level of privacy for payees.

4. MAS and ABS will continue to review feedback received for future improvements. 

***