By the middle of 2018 both local and international banks in Singapore will offer the option of paying using NETS QR code.

Singaporean banks DBS, OCBC and UOB said they will onboard NETS' QR code platform. The three local institutions will be joined by Maybank, Standard Chartered, Citi and HSBC.

The unified QR code payment platform will be able to accept payments from customers using NETSPay, DBS PayLah!, OCBC Pay Anyone and UOB Mighty, while the four international retail banks are also expected to offer this service in the coming months.

Targeting the Unbanked

With fintech firms and Chinese e-commerce giants pushing into the region, banks have been working quickly to adopt more digital payment solutions. Jack Ma's Ant Financial, the payment affiliate of Alibaba Group, acquired Singapore-based payment service HelloPay Group earlier this year.

Via his Ant Financial and Tencent Holdings Ma has been ramping up pressure on traditional banking services. Almost overnight, his partnerships across Southeast Asia are set to win over some of the estimated 450 million people with limited access to banking services.