ShopBack, best known for its cashback and rewards platform, has received a Major Payment Institution (MPI) licence from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), marking a significant shift in its ambitions to become a full-fledged player in the payments space.

The licence, granted under the Payment Services Act, allows the company to independently operate its payment product, ShopBack Pay — letting users make payments and merchants accept them directly on the platform without third-party intermediaries.

The move signals ShopBack’s transition from a shopping rewards app into a regulated fintech operator. It also opens the door for the company to build a more integrated ecosystem combining commerce, payments and rewards.

“This marks a foundational milestone for ShopBack,” said Huanmin Huang, the company’s Acting CFO and Chief of Staff. “It reflects MAS’s trust in our ability to operate responsibly and gives us the infrastructure to scale ShopBack Pay in a way that’s smarter, faster, and more secure.”

While the payment experience for consumers will remain unchanged in the short term, the MPI status gives ShopBack the regulatory backing to roll out new features in future — all within a licensed framework.

For merchants, the impact is more immediate. With the licence, ShopBack is now able to streamline payment processes, strengthen its settlement infrastructure, and deepen partnerships with retailers across the country.

The regulatory approval also puts ShopBack in a stronger position to compete in Singapore’s tightly regulated fintech sector, where players must demonstrate both operational resilience and compliance with strict anti-money laundering standards.

Having already built a name across the Asia-Pacific as a go-to platform for rewards and deals, the licence sets ShopBack up to grow its payments business beyond Singapore. The company has indicated plans to scale its payments infrastructure regionally in the near future.