Ng Kuo Pin (NCS)
NCS will develop a real-time electronic payment and securities settlement platform for central banks across Asia Pacific, following an agreement with the Network for Electronic Transfers (NETS) Group.
The collaboration brings together NCS’ capabilities in building secure and digital government applications and infrastructure with NETS’ experience as a national payments provider and cross-border payments specialist.
The alliance covers joint research and development of a new generation central bank platform designed to be "secure, resilient and robust" to allow interoperability with current and future payment systems, while facilitating high-value inter-bank fund transfers. The aim is to enhance the way central banks deliver monetary policies and critical market infrastructure to support financial stability.
“As a key technology partner of global and regional banks, we have a proven track record of building and operating critical information systems and platforms for global and regional banks to support their front- and back-end operations,” said Ng Kuo Pin, CEO of NCS.
While continuing to strengthen core services, Kuo Pin said NCS is also investing in digital capabilities to develop local-IP fintech products and platforms to fuel growth in the financial services sector.
“With a common go-to-market strategy to expand our footprint in the region, our collaboration also signifies NCS’ commitment to team with a select group of strategic partners to jointly make an impact in the market,” he added.
The NETS partnership also involves the joint development of a next-generation suite of central banking products, customisable to the regulatory needs of different financial markets, with the goal of enabling businesses to expand into Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and China.
“Developing a new electronic payment platform for central banks in Asia Pacific is a significant move towards increased inter-operability to harmonise and accelerate cross-border interbank payments and settlements in this part of the world,” added Ricky Lim, interim CEO of NETS. “The new platform will potentially change the way consumers and businesses make cross-border transactions, which is now a big part of our strategy going forward.
“As we leverage on NCS’ integrated digital capabilities to drive payment ecosystems in the region, we hope to make it easier for cross-border payments to take place in a fast, secure and cost-efficient manner. Being an established critical payments provider in Singapore, NETS is well-positioned to achieve that."
