Sending money from Singapore to Pakistan: the payments stack

By Polynopsis team · Last updated 29 October 2026

What it costs to send SGD 260

The World Bank surveyed 12 services sending from Singapore to Pakistan from 19 August 2025 to 20 August 2025. The average total cost, fees plus the FX margin, was 3.26% of the amount sent; money transfer operators averaged 3.26%. source

Bank and operator averages are worked out from the survey's provider types.

The send side: Singapore

• Cross-border money transfer service (Activity C under the Payment Services Act) means providing inbound or outbound remittance service in Singapore, and also facilitating remittance between entities in different countries even if monies are not accepted or received in Singapore. source
• There are three licence types: a money-changing licence, a Standard Payment Institution (SPI) licence for services below the thresholds in section 6(5) of the Act, and a Major Payment Institution (MPI) licence without those limits. The thresholds are S$3 million of monthly transactions for any one activity, S$6 million for two or more activities and S$5 million of daily outstanding e-money. source
• Base capital is S$100,000 for an SPI and S$250,000 for an MPI. Before starting business an MPI must also lodge security with MAS, as a cash deposit or bank guarantee, of S$100,000 if its monthly payment transactions average no more than S$6 million for any one payment service, or S$200,000 in all other cases. source

Licences, sponsor banks, collections, ramps and KYC providers: sending from Singapore.

The payout side: Pakistan

Licensing, local banks, stablecoin ramps, FX and KYC in Pakistan: launching payments in Pakistan.

Payout rails in Pakistan

Holiday gaps to plan for, to December 2027

Weekdays when one side of the corridor is closed. On the 5 dates when Singapore is closed and Pakistan is open, the payout balance has to already hold enough to cover them. On the 11 dates when Pakistan is closed, instant rails may still pay out.

Full calendars: Singapore and Pakistan. Size the buffer with the corridor runway calculator.

Funding the corridor

• FAST runs 24x7 at most participants, but some banks give a FAST transaction the next business day as value date if it is made after a cut-off time or on a non-business day. source
• A single FAST transfer is capped at S$200,000, so larger SGD movements go through MEPS+, which settles only on business days (Monday to Friday, excluding public and bank holidays). source
• Where the beneficiary banks elsewhere, the bank receiving a home remittance must pass the funds to the beneficiary's bank within 24 hours of receipt at most, and that bank credits the account instantly; pay orders and demand drafts go out within 24 hours and cash over the counter is available instantly. A late credit entitles the beneficiary to 65 paisa per thousand rupees for each day of delay. source
• SBP and the Pakistan Remittance Initiative run a dedicated 'PRI Channel' built on direct bilateral arrangements between domestic and international financial institutions, a pre-funding requirement, API system-to-system integration and Pakistan's national payment infrastructure; banks, microfinance banks, exchange companies and branchless banking wallets can receive home remittances. source
• PRISM+, Pakistan's RTGS, runs only within SBP-designated business-day periods and cut-offs, and Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays notified by SBP are ordinarily non-business days. Since 30 September 2025 SBP has required banks to send branch-initiated customer transfers through Raast OTC instead of RTGS, and Raast is built for always-on retail payments. source

Running the corridor

Polynopsis shows every balance on both sides of this corridor in one live position: the collection accounts in Singapore, the payout partners and banks in Pakistan and any stablecoin in between. It warns before the Pakistan balance runs dry, holidays included. See how it works.

Related corridors

• Australia to Pakistan
• Canada to Pakistan
• Qatar to Pakistan
• Saudi Arabia to Pakistan
• Singapore to Bangladesh
• Singapore to China
• Singapore to India
• Singapore to Indonesia
• Singapore to Philippines
• Singapore to Sri Lanka
• Singapore to Thailand
• UAE to Pakistan

Sources

1. World Bank, Remittance Prices Worldwide dataset · World Bank
2. Public Holidays for 2027 (press release, 18 June 2026) · Ministry of Manpower
3. Public holidays (2026 and 2027) · Ministry of Manpower
4. Public holidays in Pakistan 2026 revealed (Cabinet Division notification) · Daily Pakistan
5. PSX notice PSX/N-89: holidays for 2026 · Pakistan Stock Exchange