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Monetary Authority of Singapore
The Monetary Authority of Singapore has ordered scandal-warped payment services firm Wirecard to cease operating in Singapore and return all customers’ funds by 14 October.

Wirecard, which mainly processes payments for merchants and helps companies to issue pre-paid cards in Singapore, filed for insolvency in June after a €1.9 billion hole was discovered in its books. Singapore police and other countries’ forces are probing corporate fraud at the German business. 

“MAS has been monitoring the impact of Wirecard AG’s insolvency on the ability of Wirecard SG to continue providing payment services in Singapore. MAS has closely engaged Wirecard SG in recent months to safeguard the interest of Wirecard SG’s customers. This includes requiring Wirecard SG to keep customers’ funds in banks in Singapore and to assist customers to switch to alternative service providers,” the MAS said in a statement yesterday. 

The regulator said Wirecard SG (the Singaporean entity) has told it cannot continue providing payment processing services to a “significant number of merchants”.

“MAS has assessed that it is in the interest of the public for Wirecard SG to cease its payments services and promptly return all customers’ funds. This provides the greatest certainty to customers on their appropriate course of action, including seeking alternative service providers,” the regulator said.