A Singapore company opens a corporate bank account by submitting its ACRA profile, constitution, board resolution and identity documents for every director and authorised signatory. Banks run know-your-customer checks that can take days. Once open, the account supports FAST, PayNow Corporate and GIRO, which determine how you invoice and reconcile.
Banks in Singapore apply know-your-customer and anti-money-laundering checks to every new corporate customer. The standard file includes the ACRA business profile, the company's constitution, a board resolution authorising the account, identity documents for directors and authorised signatories, and proof of the registered address.
For a company with foreign owners, the bank also asks who the ultimate beneficial owners are, where the money comes from and what the account will be used for. Prepare a short description of the business model, the main customers and suppliers, the expected monthly volumes and the countries you will transact with.
Some banks require the directors to attend in person or complete a video verification. A founder who is overseas should ask early about remote options, because an account that takes six weeks instead of one week can hold up the first invoice.
Expect questions about high-risk jurisdictions and cash-intensive activities. A trading company that buys goods from several countries should be ready to show a supplier contract or a purchase order, because the bank is looking for a plausible link between your declared business and the money it will see.
Traditional banks offer relationship managers, trade finance and credit lines, which matter if the company will need working capital. Digital banks and payment platforms open accounts faster and often have lower fees, but may lack a credit facility, cheque support or the full range of trade products.
Compare four things: the minimum balance and monthly fees, the cost of foreign currency transfers, the availability of PayNow Corporate and GIRO, and how easily the bank exports statements for your accountant. A statement in a clean, consistent format saves hours every month.
Ask about the approval process for payments. Dual authorisation, where one person prepares and another approves a transfer, protects a small company from fraud and from honest mistakes.
A fee schedule is easy to misread. Look for charges per transaction, per statement, for incoming foreign transfers and for dormant accounts, then estimate your monthly cost from realistic volumes rather than the headline price.
FAST is the fast transfer system for Singapore dollar payments between banks, and it works around the clock for most transfers. PayNow Corporate lets a customer pay a company using its UEN as the proxy, instead of typing the account number. GIRO is a scheduled debit arrangement suited to recurring payments, such as subscriptions or rent.
Each rail leaves a different trace on the bank statement. A FAST transfer carries the sender's reference if they typed one. A PayNow payment shows the sender and an optional reference. A GIRO debit carries the identifier set up in the arrangement. Knowing which rail the customer used makes matching less guesswork.
Print the UEN, the bank name and the preferred reference format on every invoice. Asking the customer to quote the invoice number as the payment reference is the single cheapest control available.
Foreign-currency receipts follow a different path. An overseas customer paying in US dollars uses the bank's international transfer service, and intermediary banks may deduct charges before the money reaches you, so the received amount can be lower than the invoice total.
Decide who can initiate and who can approve payments, and set transaction limits that match the business. A new company with one director often starts with a single signatory, but as soon as an employee handles supplier payments, a second approver is worth the delay.
Review the signatory list whenever a director resigns or an employee leaves. The bank needs a fresh board resolution to change signing authority, and an outdated mandate can freeze a payment run. Keep the original resolutions with your corporate records.
Large or unusual payments may trigger a call from the bank. Tell your relationship manager in advance about a one-off acquisition payment or an overseas supplier prepayment, so it is not held for review.
Keep a signed copy of every mandate and limit change. If a payment is later disputed, the mandate shows who was authorised on that date, which matters to auditors and to the bank's fraud team.
PayNow credits show the sender's name and a short reference, which customers often leave blank or fill with something unrelated, such as a project name. When several customers pay similar amounts in the same week, matching by amount alone is unreliable.
A workable routine is: export the bank statement weekly, list open invoices by number and amount, tick off payments that quote the invoice number, then chase the rest by name and amount. Record the matched invoice number in the ledger entry so the link exists when someone asks later.
Part payments and bundled payments cause most errors. When a customer pays three invoices in one transfer, write down the split at once, while the remittance advice is still in your inbox.
Month-end is where errors surface. Compare the closing balance on the statement with the ledger balance, list the differences as timing items or errors, and clear each one before the accountant asks.
4invoices.net creates PDF invoices that carry your UEN and bank details and keeps an archive, so you can search for an invoice number quickly. 4notify.net lets you send SMS or e-mail from your account, so you can write your own payment reminders.
Neither product connects to your bank, imports statements or matches PayNow payments automatically. Reconciliation stays in your bank's tools or your accountant's software, and reminders are sent when you decide to send them.
PayNow receipts arrive as terse bank notifications with minimal reference data, making manual matching to specific open invoices slow and error-prone across high transaction volumes.
Match PayNow credits to invoices using your bank statement and the invoice number. 4invoices does not connect to PayNow or your bank and does not match payments automatically.
Overdue invoice reminders are sent inconsistently or not at all when the accounts team is busy, stretching debtor days and damaging cash flow.
Send payment reminders yourself by SMS or e-mail from your 4notify account, using text you write. Reminders are not scheduled or triggered automatically by an ageing report.
It varies by bank and by how complex your ownership is. A simple company with local directors and complete documents may be approved faster than a group with foreign owners and several layers of shareholding. Ask the bank for a document checklist first, and start the application as soon as the UEN is issued.
Some banks and digital providers accept remote applications with video verification, while others require a director to visit a branch. Requirements change, so check with each bank before you commit. Having a local director or an introducer from a corporate secretarial firm often smooths the process, but the bank still decides.
PayNow Corporate lets customers pay a company by entering its UEN instead of the account number. It reduces typing errors and speeds up small payments. You enable it through your bank and print the UEN on invoices. It does not carry the invoice number automatically, so ask customers to add it as the reference.
GIRO is an arrangement under which a bank collects or pays fixed or variable amounts on a schedule. It suits recurring items such as rent, subscriptions or instalments. The customer signs a form authorising the debits, and the payee's bank sets the process. It saves chasing, but you must reconcile each debit against the right invoice.
Ask customers to quote the invoice number as the payment reference, then compare the bank statement with your list of open invoices each week. Match by invoice number first, then by amount and customer name. Record the invoice number in the ledger entry. If one payment covers several invoices, note the split immediately.
Issue PDF invoices and send SMS or e-mail messages from your account. Bank and PayNow matching is done in your bank or accounting workflow.
