How to Accept PayNow with Stripe in Singapore (October 2026)

Stripe supports PayNow for Stripe accounts registered in Singapore, for payments in SGD from S$0.50 to S$200,000 each. On Stripe, PayNow is a single-use payment method: the customer approves every payment in their own banking app, so it can't be saved and charged again later. The rules are on Stripe's PayNow page.

It's worth switching on. PayNow had about 11 million registrations by December 2025, and Singapore consumers paid about S$154 billion through it in 2025, according to the PayNow report from MAS and the Association of Banks. For many of your customers it's the way they'd pay anyway.

To turn on PayNow in Stripe, open the Dashboard, go to Settings > Payment methods, find PayNow and switch it on. What else you need depends on how your checkout is built:

1. Switch it on in Settings > Payment methods, in test mode first.
2. Price in SGD. Every line item has to be in Singapore dollars, or PayNow won't appear.
3. On Checkout, Payment Links or the Payment Element with dynamic payment methods, that's it: Stripe shows PayNow to the customers it can serve.
4. If your developer listed the payment methods in code, they add PayNow to that list.
5. Test it. In test mode, scanning the QR with any phone camera opens a Stripe test page where you approve or fail the payment.
6. Go live, pay one small real order from your own banking app, then refund it.

Stripe charges 1.3% per successful PayNow payment in Singapore, with no fixed fee, against 3.4% + S$0.50 for a Singapore card. The gap is widest on small orders, where the card's fixed 50 cents bites hardest.

Overseas cards cost 0.5% more, and 2% more again where Stripe converts currency, per Stripe's Singapore pricing. Stripe isn't the cheapest way to take PayNow, though. HitPay charges 0.65% + S$0.30 on payments from S$100, so S$0.95 against Stripe's S$1.30 on a S$100 order. My comparison of payment gateways in Singapore has the rest.

Stripe PayNow works in Stripe Checkout, Payment Links, the Payment Element on your own site and invoices you send, but not for subscriptions or recurring billing, not in the Express Checkout Element, and not on Shopify. In more detail:

• Payment Links: the quickest route, with no website needed. Make a link in the Dashboard and send it on WhatsApp or email.
• Invoices: PayNow appears on invoices you send for payment, not on invoices Stripe charges automatically.
• Your own site: Checkout or the Payment Element, built in by your developer.
• Subscriptions: not supported. The customer has to approve every PayNow payment, so it can't be charged on a schedule.
• Shopify: not possible. Shopify hides Stripe as a payment provider in Singapore because Shopify Payments works here, as Shopify staff confirm on the Shopify Community forum. My guide to adding PayNow to Shopify covers the routes that do work.
• WooCommerce: check first. The official WooCommerce Stripe plugin doesn't list PayNow on its plugin page (version 11.1.1, updated 16 October 2026), and users have open requests asking for it. HitPay's WooCommerce plugin does carry PayNow.

On a computer, the customer scans the PayNow QR code at your checkout with their banking app and approves the payment; on a phone, they save the QR image, open their banking app and upload it. Stripe's PayNow QR codes stay valid for an hour, so nobody has to rush.

The phone flow is the weak point, and it isn't Stripe's fault. MAS and the Association of Banks describe the same save, switch and upload steps in their June 2026 announcement, and want a direct jump into the banking app ready within a year. Until then, add one line under the PayNow option telling phone users what to do, and keep cards, Apple Pay and Google Pay beside it.

One more thing customers notice: PayNow payments don't support custom statement descriptors, so the payment shows in their banking app as STRIPE PAYMENTS SINGAPORE PTE. LTD., not your business name. Put your shop name in the order email so nobody wonders who they paid.

For most developers, the practical PayNow API is a payment provider's, and with Stripe it's a PaymentIntent in SGD with PayNow switched on. The flow in Stripe's guide to accepting PayNow runs like this:

1. Your server creates a PaymentIntent with the amount and currency=sgd, with PayNow enabled in the Dashboard.
2. The checkout page calls stripe.confirmPayNowPayment with the client secret, and Stripe.js shows the QR code.
3. The customer pays in their banking app, and the PaymentIntent moves to succeeded.
4. Your server fulfils the order on the payment_intent.succeeded webhook, not on the browser coming back.

That last step matters more for PayNow than for cards. The customer is inside their banking app when the money moves, and plenty never come back to your tab.

Yes. Stripe refunds PayNow payments in full or in part for up to 90 days after the payment, and a refund takes up to about five minutes. PayNow payments can't be disputed or charged back the way card payments can. Money from a PayNow payment is available in your Stripe balance one day after the transaction.

HitPay is cheaper for PayNow on most orders, while Stripe is the better choice when a developer builds your checkout or your cards already run through Stripe. On a S$100 order, PayNow costs S$0.95 at HitPay and S$1.30 at Stripe. HitPay's plugins add 0.2% on WooCommerce and Wix and 0.5% on Shopify, while Stripe's Payment Links cost nothing extra. If Stripe already takes your cards, PayNow is one switch away, and that convenience is often worth 35 cents an order.