Get the Amount, Recipient, and Reference from Any PayNow Screenshot
PayNow is Singapore's national instant payment system, but it has no standalone app — each bank (DBS, OCBC, UOB) embeds it behind its own confirmation screen, creating a different layout for every transfer. Manually logging payments from screenshots means adapting to a different design for each bank — this extracts the amount, recipient, and reference from any PayNow screen in 5 seconds, regardless of which bank generated it.
5-10s per screenshot · Up to 99% accuracy on printed text
What You Can Pull from a PayNow Screenshot
A PayNow confirmation screen carries four fields that matter for your records. With Custom Column Extraction, you name the columns you need — the AI locates each value on the screen by understanding what the field means, not where it sits in the layout, so it works regardless of which bank's app generated the screenshot.
Always in Singapore dollars — PayNow only operates in SGD. The amount is typically the most prominent number on the confirmation screen, but its exact position shifts between bank UIs.
The recipient identifier varies by payment type — a masked mobile number (person-to-person), a UEN (business payments), or a display name. The AI detects which format is used and extracts the correct value.
A unique transaction identifier assigned by the FAST network. This is the key field for reconciliation — the same reference appears on both the sender's and recipient's bank statements.
The settlement timestamp as shown on the confirmation screen. PayNow transfers settle in seconds, so the displayed time is typically within moments of the actual transfer.
A Single Payment System, Fragmented Across Every Bank
PayNow processes over S$120 billion in transactions annually across seven banks, but it has no app of its own. Every confirmation screenshot comes from a different bank interface — and the fields you need are there, but in different places depending on who generated the screen.
Embedded, Not Standalone
PayNow lives inside DBS digibank, OCBC Digital, UOB TMRW, HSBC Singapore, and Maybank — each with its own confirmation screen design, field labels, and visual hierarchy. A screenshot from DBS looks nothing like one from OCBC, even for the exact same payment. As one Reddit user noted: "Not sure when DBS updated the PayNow interface but the new one requires extra steps just to open the contact list." Banks change their UIs independently, so the screen you saw last month may not match today's.
Three Kinds of Recipient Identifiers
A PayNow confirmation can show a masked mobile number ("9876 ****"), a 9–10 character UEN alphanumeric code for business payments, or a recipient's display name. The format isn't standardized — the same recipient may appear differently depending on whether the sender used a mobile number or scanned a QR code. Traditional extraction tools that look for "Name" in a fixed position will fail on the two thirds of cases where no name is visible.
The Reference Number Hides in Plain Sight
Some banks display the FAST transaction reference prominently on the main confirmation screen. Others relegate it to a smaller text block or bury it behind a "View Details" link. The same PayNow payment can leave different paper trails depending on which bank processed it — exactly the wrong kind of variability when you're trying to reconcile payments.
Semantic Reading Finds Fields by Label, Not Position
The AI reads whatever label the bank uses — "Transaction Reference," "Ref No.," "Transaction ID" — and returns the corresponding value. When DBS redesigns its confirmation screen or OCBC updates its app layout, extraction still works because it's looking for what each field means, not where it was last time.
Automatic Recipient Type Detection
Define a single column named "Recipient" and the AI identifies whether the visible value is a masked mobile number, a UEN alphanumeric code, or a business name — by reading the label alongside the value. One column handles all three cases across any bank's screenshot, no column renaming between batches.
Cross-Bank Batch Processing
Upload PayNow screenshots from DBS, OCBC, UOB, and HSBC into the same batch. Define your columns once — Amount, Recipient, Reference, Date — and every screenshot produces a row in the same spreadsheet. Batch-first processing means a mixed folder of bank screenshots becomes one clean export, not four separate copy-paste sessions.
From One PayNow Confirmation to One Spreadsheet Row
If you're logging PayNow payments — for Carousell sales reconciliation, freelance income tracking, or monthly business accounting — here's what happens when you drop a screenshot into the tool.
Upload the Screenshot
Upload any PayNow confirmation screenshot — DBS digibank, OCBC Digital, UOB TMRW, HSBC Singapore, or Maybank. The AI reads content, not layout, so it handles any bank's confirmation screen without reconfiguration. Mixed batches of screenshots from different banks are processed together.
Name the Columns
Define your column headers: Amount (SGD), Recipient, Reference Number, Date. Add a separate UEN column if you process business payments and need the entity identifier extracted independently from the recipient display name.
Export the Row
The output lands as a single spreadsheet row — amount in SGD, recipient identifier, FAST reference number, and settlement timestamp. Export to Excel or CSV, or push directly into Google Sheets via the add-on. One screenshot, one row, no retyping, no bank-by-bank sorting.
When PayNow Screenshot Extraction Works Best — and When It Doesn't
When It Works Best
Clear confirmation screens from any participating bank. Direct post-payment screenshots from DBS, OCBC, UOB, HSBC, or Maybank produce the most reliable results — all four fields are present and legible.
Batch cross-platform processing with other payment apps. The same column set extracts from PayNow, PayLah, and GrabPay screenshots in one batch — useful if you accept payments through multiple channels.
Monthly reconciliation at volume. Processing 50+ PayNow screenshots per month replaces hours of manual transcription with a single export sorted by date and reference number.
When to Be Cautious
Compressed or forwarded screenshots. WhatsApp and Telegram compress images, which can reduce legibility of small reference numbers and timestamps. Ask for the original screenshot when possible.
QR payment pages before confirmation. The QR scan page shows the amount and merchant name but not the completed transaction reference. Only the post-payment confirmation screen carries the full set of extractable fields.
Screenshots are not bank statements. A screenshot proves a payment was initiated, but the bank statement is the authoritative record. Use the extracted reference number to cross-check against your actual bank transaction history.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I extract the recipient's UEN from a PayNow screenshot?
Yes. If the PayNow payment was made to a registered business, the Unique Entity Number typically appears on the confirmation screen alongside or below the business name. The AI reads it by recognizing the UEN format — a 9–10 character alphanumeric code ending with a check letter — regardless of where the bank placed it. Define a UEN column alongside Recipient to capture both the business name and the entity identifier in separate columns.
Does the extracted Reference Number let me find the same transaction in my bank statement?
Yes. Every PayNow transaction is assigned a unique reference number by the FAST network (Fast and Secure Transfers). That same reference number appears on both the sender's and recipient's bank statements. Extract it from the screenshot and use it to reconcile against your bank's transaction history — this is the most reliable way to match a screenshot to a real settled payment. On r/askSingapore, sellers frequently ask whether a buyer's screenshot is legitimate — the reference number cross-check is the answer that converts a "maybe" into a confirmed deposit.
Why does a PayNow confirmation from DBS look completely different from one from OCBC?
PayNow has no standalone app. Each participating bank — DBS, OCBC, UOB, HSBC, Maybank, Standard Chartered, Citibank — implements the PayNow payment flow inside its own mobile banking application. The underlying FAST network processes the same data for every bank, but the visual design, field labels, and layout hierarchy are entirely controlled by each bank. A DBS digibank confirmation uses a green success banner with the amount centered; OCBC Digital renders it as a white summary card with a blue header. The data is identical — the presentation is not. This is exactly why position-based extraction fails on PayNow screenshots and semantic extraction succeeds.
Can I batch PayNow screenshots from different banks with screenshots from other payment apps in the same export?
Yes. Define one set of column names — Amount, Recipient, Reference, Date — and the AI processes PayNow screenshots from DBS, OCBC, and UOB alongside PayLah, GrabPay, and other payment app screenshots in a single batch using the same definitions. Each screenshot becomes one row in the output spreadsheet, regardless of which bank or app generated it. See the payment screenshots overview for the full cross-app capability.
What if the screenshot shows a masked mobile number instead of a recipient name?
Many person-to-person PayNow transfers display only the recipient's masked mobile number (e.g. "9876 ****") alongside a generic label like "To" or "Recipient." The AI extracts whatever identifier is visible. For record-keeping, use the Reference Number as your primary transaction key — it stays consistent across bank statements and screenshots — and treat the displayed mobile number as supplemental context. If you need the unmasked number, it appears in full on your own bank statement under the transaction details.
Deep dive into how PayNow's UEN system works: How PayNow's UEN carries entity-type information through the identifier format — similar to PIX's key classification but simpler
Sibling comparison: GCash (Philippines) — another Asian mobile payment system with a dedicated reference number · Twint (Switzerland) — another national payment system embedded across multiple bank apps with the same fragmentation problem
Back to payment screenshots overview — see all supported payment apps