Quick Answer: For Singapore SMBs seeking a payment gateway with PayNow, GrabPay, ShopeePay, BNPL, and cross-border e-wallet support at zero monthly fees, HitPay is the strongest SMB-focused option — licensed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) with next business day SGD payouts. Stripe, Airwallex, Adyen, 2C2P, and PayPal each serve narrower use cases. This comparison covers the key differences so Singapore merchants can choose with confidence.

Singapore's payment gateway market is competitive. Any business processing SGD payments online or in-person has real choices — and those choices carry meaningful operational consequences around cash flow, checkout conversion, and reconciliation complexity.

This post is a factual comparison of all platforms, covering their respective strengths and limitations to help merchants in Tanjong Pagar, Bugis, or Orchard Road make an informed decision.

Why Do Singapore Businesses Look for HitPay Alternatives?

Most businesses evaluating alternatives are not dissatisfied — they are benchmarking. Common triggers include:

• Needing tighter integration with an existing banking or ERP stack

• Operating at enterprise scale where negotiated rates matter

• Requiring global payment infrastructure beyond Southeast Asia

• Developer teams preferring a particular API architecture

Understanding which scenario applies determines which alternative is actually suitable. A Bugis fashion boutique has different requirements from a SaaS company processing recurring SGD subscriptions at scale. For context on how Singapore's e-payment landscape is structured, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) publishes licensing and regulatory requirements that all payment service providers must meet.

What Payment Methods Does a Singapore Gateway Need to Support?

In Singapore, the non-negotiable payment methods for most consumer-facing merchants are:

• PayNow — the national QR and bank transfer rail, used by the majority of Singapore consumers

• GrabPay and ShopeePay — dominant e-wallets

• Cards — Visa, Mastercard, Amex, Apple Pay, Google Pay

• BNPL — Atome and ShopBack PayLater for higher-basket retail and lifestyle

• Cross-border wallets — WeChat Pay, UPI, QRIS, PromptPay, DuitNow for tourist-heavy locations

Missing any of these creates a checkout gap. A café near Clarke Quay that doesn't accept WeChat Pay loses Chinese tourist spend. A furniture retailer without Atome loses customers who need to spread payments. For a deeper look at how local payment methods stack up, see this guide to online payment methods in Singapore.

How Do the Main Alternatives Compare?

The table below covers the platforms most commonly evaluated as HitPay alternatives in Singapore.

What Is Stripe Best For in Singapore?

Stripe is a strong fit for developer-led teams that need a globally documented API and are comfortable building custom checkout flows. It supports PayNow and GrabPay in Singapore, and its ecosystem of plugins covers most major platforms.

However, Stripe does not natively support ShopeePay, Atome, or ShopBack PayLater in Singapore. Merchants needing these methods must use a third-party integration layer — adding cost and reconciliation complexity. For a detailed breakdown of how the two platforms compare, the best Stripe alternatives in Singapore guide covers fee structures and integration depth.

Best for: Developer teams building custom payment flows that primarily need cards, PayNow, and GrabPay — and do not require local BNPL or the full e-wallet stack.

What Is Airwallex Best For in Singapore?

Airwallex is built around multi-currency treasury management — global accounts, FX transfers, and corporate cards. Its payment acceptance layer in Singapore covers cards and some local methods, but cross-border QR coverage is narrower — Airwallex supports Alipay and WeChat Pay but lacks the broader suite of inbound tourist wallets (UPI, QRIS, PromptPay, DuitNow, KakaoPay) that HitPay supports natively. While a free plan is available, paid plans
start at $79/month for the Grow tier — a fixed overhead that early-stage SMBs may not justify.

Airwallex's own research highlights the growing importance of alternative payment methods for reaching customers — an area where HitPay's 50+ payment methods hold a practical advantage for Singapore merchants.

Best for: Singapore businesses with significant cross-border treasury needs — multi-currency payroll, overseas supplier payments, or FX management — where payment acceptance is secondary to financial operations.

What Are Adyen and 2C2P Best For?

Adyen targets enterprise merchants. Its pricing, onboarding complexity, and minimum volume expectations make it poorly suited to most SMBs. For a large retailer with existing enterprise contracts, Adyen's platform reliability is compelling.

2C2P covers Southeast Asia broadly and offers over-the-counter payment access across 600,000+ locations in Asia — a differentiator for businesses serving markets with low card penetration. For Singapore-focused SMBs, this coverage provides limited incremental value.

Adyen best for: Enterprise retailers with high volumes, existing global payment infrastructure, and dedicated technical integration teams.

2C2P best for: Businesses operating across Southeast Asia that need over-the-counter cash collection networks alongside digital payments.

What Makes HitPay the Default Baseline for Singapore SMBs?

HitPay is MAS-licensed (PS20200643), charges no monthly or setup fees, and supports the full Singapore payment stack: PayNow, GrabPay, ShopeePay, Atome, ShopBack PayLater, cards (Visa, Mastercard, Amex, Apple Pay, Google Pay), and cross-border wallets including WeChat Pay, UPI, QRIS, DuitNow, PromptPay, and KakaoPay/PayCo/LINE Pay.

Domestic SGD transactions settle the next business day. Cross-border payments settle at T+2. Onboarding takes 1–3 business days with no setup fee. For merchants sending invoices or collecting payments via social channels, HitPay's payment links support PayNow and card payments through WhatsApp and Instagram without requiring a website.

Best for: SMBs across Singapore that want zero monthly fees, 50+ payment methods including the full local e-wallet and BNPL stack, next business day payouts, and MAS-licensed compliance — without the complexity of enterprise gateway onboarding.

What Should Singapore Merchants Actually Do?

Choosing a payment gateway comes down to four practical questions:

1. Which payment methods do customers at the point of sale actually use?

2. What is the all-in monthly cost — fixed fees plus per-transaction rates?

3. How quickly do payouts arrive, and does that match cash flow needs?

4. How much technical effort does integration and ongoing reconciliation require?

For most Singapore SMBs, HitPay answers all four without trade-offs. For enterprise merchants with global treasury requirements or custom API priorities, Airwallex or Stripe may be worth evaluating — with the understanding that cross-border QR wallet coverage and payout speed will differ.

Frequently Asked Questions