DBS Bank has extended its PayLah! mobile wallet to Taiwan, allowing its more than three million users to pay by scanning QR codes at over 250,000 merchants across the island, the bank announced on Wednesday (21 October).
The merchants make up about two-thirds of the network using TWQR, Taiwan’s common QR code standard. DBS said it is the first Singapore bank to connect its customers to TWQR.
How it works
The service builds on a cross-border link announced in April between Singapore’s NETS and Taiwan’s Financial Information Service Co (FISC), which developed TWQR. DBS Bank Taiwan acts as the settlement agent bank for the NETS-TWQR connection.
Users can pay at shops showing the TWQR acceptance mark, with QR codes from participating providers iPass Money, Taiwan Pay, PXPay Plus and Easy Wallet accepted. Before confirming a payment, the app displays the amount in Taiwan dollars, the exchange rate applied and the final cost in Singapore dollars.
Taiwan joins a list of markets where PayLah! users can already scan to pay, including Indonesia through QRIS, Malaysia through DuitNow, Thailand through PromptPay, and UnionPay merchants globally.
Wider coverage in 2027
DBS expects PayLah! to be accepted across the full participating TWQR merchant network in 2027, including outlets displaying JKO Pay QR codes. Also planned for next year is a merchant-scan option, letting major Taiwanese retailers scan a PayLah! user’s QR code, as well as a reverse link allowing DBS customers in Taiwan to scan SGQR codes at participating Singapore merchants through the digibank app.
Chan Sow Han, head of payments and unsecured lending at DBS Singapore’s consumer banking group, said demand for the bank’s overseas QR services had been robust. “Take-up of our cross-border QR payment services remain strong,” she said, adding that the aim is to make paying abroad feel as familiar as paying at home.
The bank noted that Singapore ranked among Taiwan’s top 10 sources of visitors in 2025.
Launch promotion
To mark the launch, DBS will offer cashback of up to S$3 to customers who are new to PayLah!’s overseas QR payments, with no minimum spend. The offer runs from 16 November 2026 to 31 January 2027 and applies to QR payments made in Taiwan, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia. It is limited to customers who have not made an overseas PayLah! QR payment in the past 12 months, with one redemption per customer each month and 20,000 redemptions available monthly.
