Regulation compliance with Shopify Payments in Singapore

The Singapore Payment Services Act 2019 (PSA) provides a framework for regulating payment systems and payment service providers in Singapore. The PSA replaces the Payment Systems Oversight Act and Money-Changing and Remittance Businesses Act to provide regulatory certainty and consumer safeguards while encouraging innovation in payment services and Fintech.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) issued Notice PS-N01 (Prevention of Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism—Specified Payment Services) as part of the PSA. This notice introduces Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (CFT) requirements for regulated payment service providers, including Stripe, the payment processor for Shopify Payments in Singapore.

What this means for Shopify Payments Singapore users

To comply with regulatory updates, the setup process for Shopify Payments has been updated, and there are additional measures that apply to both new and current users:

• Enhanced identity verification
• Collection of additional Know Your Customer (KYC) information
• Verification of authority to open the account

Information collected is verified against what is on file with government registries, such as the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority of Singapore (ACRA).

Enhanced Identity Verification

Shopify Payments is required to implement an enhanced identity verification process for certain users. Shopify Payments might ask you to verify your identity with SingPass MyInfo using your SingPass app, or by providing a valid form of ID with a photo of yourself using the camera on your computer or mobile device.

Collection of additional Know Your Customer (KYC) Information

Shopify Payments might collect additional information from you, such as your nationality, details about your company’s beneficial owners, and details about your directors. The following information, in addition to your business type, might be required when using Shopify Payments in Singapore:

• Connected parties: We are required to verify the details of all of your directors (if you are a company), partners and managers (if you are a partnership), and senior executives/office bearers (if you are an unincorporated entity such as a society or a club).

• Beneficial owners: We are also required to identify and verify the identities of individuals with significant ownership and/or control of your business, established by shareholding, voting rights, and/or executive authority of the business.

Refer to the following table to determine who you're required to list on your account, depending on your business type, to meet the Connected party and Beneficial owner requirements.

Business type	Required to be listed
Sole proprietorship	The business owner
Partnership	All owners, partners, and managers
Private company	All owners with 25% or more equity and all directors.
Non-profit	All directors and key executives

If our banking partners can't verify the information that you've entered against ACRA or other applicable government registries, then they might ask for documentation to verify the owners and/or directors of your business.

Verification of authority to open the account

Shopify Payments must verify that the individual opening a Shopify Payments account is authorized to do so on behalf of the business. Learn more about representative authority verification.

Your account representative must be someone who has an authorized role in your business. The following table lists individuals that can be listed as the account representative, depending on your business type.

Business type	Individual that can act as the account representative
Sole proprietorship	The owner
Partnership	An owner, partner, or manager
Private company	A director or the chief executive officer (CEO)
Non-profit	A director or key executive

If the individual that you list as the account representative isn't in any of these roles, then you might be asked to provide a proof of authority for that person by using a letter of authorization signed by someone else within your company who is in an authorized role.

You can also update your account representative to someone else already in the appropriate role, or update your information on ACRA.

Account Impact

When you can begin updating your business details for your Shopify Payments account, you receive an email notification. The email notification outlines the steps you need to take to complete these updates within the specified time period.

Note

If you don't provide the requested information within the required timeframe, your Shopify Payments account might be affected. This could include paused payment processing, suspended payouts, or account termination.

Frequently Asked Questions

The following are some frequently asked questions regarding the regulations when using Shopify Payments in Singapore.

Why am I being asked to provide personal information about my Directors and/or Key Executives?

In order to comply with existing AML/KYC regulations, the identities of ultimate beneficial owners (UBOs) of Shopify Payments users that are legal entities needs to be verified.

A UBO refers to any individual who ultimately owns or controls your business, or on whose behalf transactions are being conducted, and includes any person who exercises ultimate effective control over your business. This can be your directors, or anyone who owns more than 25% of your business.

I’m a Nonprofit (NPO), am I still required to provide Ultimate Beneficial Owner (UBO) information?

Yes. For NPOs, UBOs are individuals that ultimately control or exercise significant influence over your organization. For a nonprofit, this includes the following individuals, key executives, and office bearers:

• All directors
• President
• Chairperson
• Treasurer
• Secretary