Addressing via Proxies (Aliases)

In many countries with instant payment systems (IPSs), payments can be addressed using “proxies” (or “aliases") in place of Account Identifications. A proxy (or alias) is any string of text that can be linked to a specific bank account. Commonly accepted proxies include:

• Mobile phone numbers

• Email addresses

• National ID numbers

• Company incorporation numbers

Nexus allows cross-border payments to be addressed using proxies. In principle, any proxy that is valid for domestic payments should also be valid for Nexus payments. (This is dependent on the relevant proxy service provider being onboarded and connected to Nexus.)

This guide assumes that each Instant Payment System has one – and only one – corresponding proxy directory. This is the case in most countries. However, in the euro area and the USA there may be multiple IPSs and multiple (often competing) proxy directories. This raises a number of complications that will be addressed in a future phase of development.

Different countries support different types of proxies. The table below shows some examples.

Explainer: Example proxy schemes

COUNTRY	PROXY SCHEME	PROXIES	NOTES
Australia	PayId	Phone number Email Registered business number	Addressing service provided by IPS operator (the New Payments Platform).
India	Unified Payments Interface (UPI)	Mobile number Virtual Payment Address (UPI ID), Aadhaar ID (non-mandatory national identity number)	UPI ID has the format name@BankName or mobilenumber@BankName. Only the bank is able to map the name element to a specific account; the IPS operator does not have this information.
Indonesia	BI-FAST	Mobile Number Email Address
Malaysia	DuitNow	Mobile phone number Business registration number National ID number Passport Number Army Number / Police Number	The majority of account holders have linked their phone number to an account.
Philippines	InstaPay	Mobile Number Email Address
Singapore	PayNow	Mobile phone number Unique Entity Number for corporations National ID number Virtual payment address	Significant adoption. Also used for payments from individuals to smaller businesses and some larger e-commerce sites (eg Shopee)
Sweden	Swish	Mobile phone number	High adoption: the majority of Swedish adults are registered with Swish
Thailand	PromptPay	Mobile Number National ID Biller Id Corporate Tax Id Ewallet ID
UK	PayM	Mobile phone number	Service was shut down in March 2023 due to poor adoption