Aspire FT Pte Ltd ("Aspire") is currently exempted from holding a licence under the Payment Services Act for the provision of Account Issuance Service, Domestic Money Transfer Service, and E-money Issuance Service for a specified period. This can be confirmed on the MAS website here. Aspire is not licensed, nor exempt to provide cross-border money transfer services, and consequently provides these services in conjunction with MAS licensed partners.
As agreed in the Terms & Conditions when signing up for an Aspire account, all cross-border payment services on the Platform are provided by various regulated third-party providers
Under the Debit Account Terms & Conditions Section 6.5 - You would have acknowledged that any cross-border money transfers you wish to make from, or receive into, your Account, are subject to the applicable terms and conditions of the relevant Affiliate providing the cross-border money transfer service as set out on the Platform or otherwise notified to you. You are advised to read the applicable terms and conditions carefully before performing any cross-border money transfer.
You can determine if your sender is about to make a cross border transfer by
checking the location of the bank they are using to make the SWIFT transfer
or the SWIFT BIC code of the bank they are using
If the bank branch is NOT based in Singapore or the sending bank's SWIFT BIC does not contain "SG" in it, then the sending bank's branch is NOT within Singapore.
Any transfers from these accounts into your Aspire SGD or USD accounts based in Singapore, and funds will have to be rejected with return fees deducted. Sample SWIFT BIC Codes
CITISGSGGCB - Domestic SWIFT
CHASSGSPXXX - Domestic SWIFT
You have 2 OPTIONS to receive funds into your Aspire DBS USD account which starts with 885-215-XXX-XX and is located in Singapore
1. Proceed only with a Domestic USD SG-SG transfer within Singapore - Tell your sender NOT to initiate a transfer directly to your Aspire Account if their bank is located outside of Singapore. The sender needs to initiate a new domestic USD transfer from their Bank Account based in Singapore to your Aspire Account based in Singapore which starts with 885-215-XXX-XX.
Note:
Some bank branches which are based in Singapore, may choose to still route through a US correspondent bank even if the originating source is from Singapore. Please instruct your bank to only use correspondent routing banks which are based in Singapore, to prevent rejection. (For example, XYZSGSGGCB located in Singapore sending USD funds to DBSSSGSGXXX, may choose to route funds through their US entity XYZUS33XXX which would lead to a cross border transaction that Aspire cannot accept.)
2. Work with Aspire's ALTERNATIVE Cross Border Partners - If your sender does not have a local entity in Singapore they can send funds from, then BEFORE getting your sender to send in funds to your account, you MUST complete this Transfer Request form per transaction you expect to receive. Aspire will subsequently reach out to our network of alternative Cross border partners to find the best rates for you to facilitate this cross border transfer, and then reach out to advise you if the transfer can be facilitated (subject to screening and approval). Do note that any transfers under this method you initiate without Aspire's permission, will be rejected with fees, in the event it is a cross border transaction.
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