How to Set Up a PayNow Business Account (Step by Step, 2026)

How to set up a PayNow business account

PayNow for business lets anyone pay you by entering your UEN or scanning a QR code. The money goes straight to your business bank account with no percentage fee, no settlement delay, and no merchant account. Setting it up takes under ten minutes if you already have a Singapore business bank account with internet banking.

This guide covers the full path: registering your UEN with PayNow, generating your first QR code, testing it, and then moving to fixed-amount QR codes and API integration when you need more.

What you need before you start

Three things:

1. A registered Singapore business. Your business must have a UEN (Unique Entity Number) from ACRA. Sole proprietorships, partnerships, and private limited companies all get one.

2. A business bank account. The account must be at a PayNow-participating bank: DBS, POSB, OCBC, UOB, Standard Chartered, Maybank, HSBC, Citibank, or Bank of China. Most Singapore business accounts qualify.

3. Internet banking access. You will register PayNow through your bank's internet banking portal (not the mobile app, for most business accounts). Make sure you have your login credentials and any required tokens or OTPs set up.

If you are a sole proprietor using a personal bank account, you can register PayNow with your mobile number or NRIC instead of a UEN. The process is simpler (usually done through the mobile app), but the UEN route is what this guide covers since it is the standard setup for business payments.

Step 1: Register your UEN with PayNow

The registration links your UEN to a specific bank account. Once registered, any PayNow transfer to your UEN goes to that account. You can only link one bank account to your UEN at a time.

DBS or POSB business accounts

DBS business banking uses the DBS IDEAL platform.

1. Log into DBS IDEAL.
2. Go to "PayNow" under the payments or transfers section.
3. Select "Register PayNow."
4. Choose UEN as the proxy type.
5. Enter your UEN (the one on your ACRA registration).
6. Select the business account you want to receive payments into.
7. Confirm with your security token or OTP.

Registration is usually effective immediately. You can verify by checking the PayNow registration status in the same section.

OCBC business accounts

OCBC business banking uses the Velocity platform.

1. Log into OCBC Velocity.
2. Navigate to "PayNow" or "Manage PayNow" (under Payments or Tools, depending on your interface version).
3. Select "Register" or "Add PayNow Proxy."
4. Choose UEN as the proxy type.
5. Enter your UEN and select the receiving account.
6. Submit and confirm with your security token.

OCBC business registrations may take a short processing period. Check back in the PayNow section to confirm your registration is active.

UOB business accounts

UOB business banking uses UOB BIBPlus (Business Internet Banking Plus).

1. Log into UOB BIBPlus.
2. Go to "PayNow" under the transfers or payments menu.
3. Select "Register PayNow."
4. Choose UEN as the proxy type.
5. Enter your UEN and select the account.
6. Confirm with your security token.

UOB registrations are typically processed quickly. Verify by checking your PayNow status after completing the steps.

Other banks

Standard Chartered, Maybank, HSBC, and other participating banks follow a similar process through their respective business internet banking portals. The steps are: log in, find the PayNow section, register your UEN, select the receiving account, and confirm. If you cannot find the PayNow section, contact your bank's business banking support line.

Step 2: Generate your first QR code

Once your UEN is registered with PayNow, you can generate a QR code that customers scan to pay you. There are two ways to do this.

Through your bank app

Most bank apps let you display a PayNow QR linked to your account. Open your bank app, go to PayNow or Scan and Pay, and look for "My QR" or "Show QR." This gives you a basic open-amount QR code. Customers scan it, type in the amount, and send.

For more detail on generating QR codes through DBS, UOB, and OCBC, see our full guide: How to generate a PayNow QR code.

Through the DoubleAM generator

The DoubleAM PayNow QR generator works with any bank and lets you set a fixed amount and reference. Enter your UEN, the amount, and a reference (like an invoice number), and you get a QR code ready to share. This is more useful for actual payment collection because the customer sees the amount pre-filled and your reference comes back with the payment for matching.

The generator is free and requires no signup.

Step 3: Test with a small payment

Before you start using PayNow with customers, test the setup:

1. Generate a QR code for a small amount (say $0.10) using your UEN.
2. Scan it with a different bank account (your personal account, a partner's phone, or a colleague's phone).
3. Complete the payment.
4. Check that the money arrives in your business bank account.
5. Check that the reference you set appears in the transaction details.

If the payment arrives and the reference shows correctly, your setup is working. If it does not arrive, check that your UEN registration is active in your internet banking portal. The most common issue is that the registration has not been completed or approved yet.

Open-amount vs fixed-amount QR codes

Once your basic setup is working, the next decision is which type of QR code to use.

Open-amount QR: Identifies your account (via UEN), but the payer types in the amount. Good for a counter display, donation box, or tipping jar where the amount varies. Simple to set up. The downside is that the payer can type any amount, and there is no built-in reference to match the payment to a specific invoice or order.

Fixed-amount QR: Encodes the exact amount and optionally a reference. The payer scans, sees the amount pre-filled, and confirms. Good for invoices, service payments, orders, and any situation where you know the amount in advance. Matching payments to invoices is straightforward because the reference comes back with the transaction.

For a business that sends invoices or collects specific amounts, fixed-amount QR codes with references are the practical choice. They reduce errors (no wrong amounts typed in) and save time on reconciliation.

Adding references for invoice matching

A reference is a short text string encoded in the QR code. When the customer pays, this reference appears in your bank statement alongside the transaction. You can use it for anything: invoice numbers, customer names, order IDs, project codes.

For example, if you send a PayNow QR for $500 with reference "INV-2026-0047," your bank statement will show a $500 incoming transfer with that reference. No need to call the customer to ask what the payment was for, or scroll through your bank app matching amounts to invoices.

Bank apps have limited support for references. DBS digibank calls it a "description" and supports it in the Generate QR flow. Other banks vary. The DoubleAM generator adds references consistently regardless of which bank you use.

When you outgrow manual QR generation

For a business that sends five or fewer payment requests a day, generating QR codes one at a time through the generator or bank app works fine. When you hit ten, twenty, or more per day, doing it manually becomes a bottleneck.

This is where integration comes in. There are two levels:

Workflow integration

Connect PayNow QR generation to the tools you already use. If you send invoices by WhatsApp, generate the QR and send it in the same message. If you use a CRM, trigger a QR code automatically when a deal closes. If you take bookings, send a deposit request with a fixed-amount QR as part of the confirmation.

DoubleAM builds these workflows on GoHighLevel, connecting PayNow to your CRM, WhatsApp, and automation pipeline. A customer books an appointment, receives a PayNow QR on WhatsApp for the deposit, pays, and the CRM updates automatically.

API integration

If you have your own software, website, or ordering system, the PayNow API generates QR codes programmatically. Send a request with the amount, UEN, and reference, and get back a QR code image. Embed it in your checkout page, invoice PDF, or order confirmation screen.

This is what DoubleAM's PayNow product does. No payment processing, no holding funds. Just QR generation with the right amount and reference, and the money goes straight to your bank.

Common setup issues and how to fix them

"My UEN is not found when someone tries to pay." Your PayNow registration may not be active yet. Log back into your internet banking portal and check the PayNow section. If it shows as pending, wait for it to complete. If it shows as not registered, go through the registration steps again.

"The payment went to the wrong account." Your UEN can only be linked to one bank account at a time. If you registered at Bank A and then re-registered at Bank B, Bank A's link is deactivated. Check which bank currently holds your UEN registration.

"I changed banks and PayNow stopped working." De-register your UEN from the old bank and re-register at the new one. Some banks do this automatically when you close the account; others do not. Check with both banks.

"The reference is not showing on the recipient's side." Not all bank apps display the reference field the same way. Some show it as a "description" or "message." Some only show it in the transaction details, not the notification. The reference is encoded in the QR, but how it surfaces depends on the paying customer's bank app.

What comes next

Once your PayNow business account is running and you are collecting payments, the natural next steps are:

1. Fixed-amount QR codes for every invoice or payment request, so customers do not type wrong amounts.
2. References on every QR so you can match payments to invoices without guessing.
3. WhatsApp delivery so you send the QR where your customers already are.
4. API integration if you want QR codes generated automatically from your own systems.

The free PayNow QR generator handles the first three. The PayNow API and integration options handle the fourth.

PayNow itself is free. The infrastructure is already built into every Singapore bank. What most businesses are missing is not the ability to receive payments, but a clean workflow for sending payment requests with the right amount and reference, through the right channel. That is the gap this setup fills.

Last updated: July 2026. Bank portal steps are based on DBS IDEAL, OCBC Velocity, and UOB BIBPlus as of this date. Steps may vary slightly with platform updates.