Qoo10 ordered to put payment services in Singapore on hold

Beleaguered online marketplace Qoo10 has been ordered to put its payment services here on hold, due to numerous payment delays to merchants listing their wares there.

- Tay Hong Yi

However, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) also said in a statement on the evening of Sept 23 that Qoo10 will be permitted to make payments for outstanding claims by these merchants.

MAS has directed Qoo10 to suspend providing all payment services covered under the Payment Services Act from the same day, as it has been unable to provide sufficient assurance that it had the resources and systems to meet its payment obligations to merchants in a timely manner.

This suspension does not prohibit Qoo10 from operating its e-commerce platform, but it may need to engage a third-party payment service provider for transactions on this platform, MAS said.

MAS said this comes after the authority and other government agencies received several complaints by merchants against Qoo10 for delayed payment processing on Qoo10's e-commerce platform between April and August.