The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS) have on Wednesday jointly announced the incorporation of Singapore Payments Network (SPaN), which will administer and govern Singapore’s national payment schemes.
MAS said in a statement that this follows MAS’ and ABS’ earlier announcement on the intention to set up a new entity to consolidate the administration and governance of Singapore’s national payment schemes to position them for the next stage of growth, and to collaborate with MAS on the development of Singapore’s national payments strategy.
SPaN is set up by the MAS and ABS as a not-for-profit company limited by guarantee to drive national payments objectives.
The initial members of the company are MAS and the Domestic Systemically Important Banks (D-SIBs).
SPaN aims to provide strong governance over national and cross border payment schemes, promote continuous payments innovation and encourage active collaboration among key industry players.
With the incorporation of SPaN, a board of directors will be formed to guide the company’s progression from incorporation to operational readiness, while ensuring sound governance and alignment with its strategic purpose.
To take the company to an operationally ready state by end 2026, the board will oversee the next phase of work, which will include the onboarding of other direct participants of core national payments infrastructure as members of the company, and transition of national payment schemes from existing scheme administrators to SPaN.
The 11-member board will comprise 2 senior representatives from MAS, 5 bank and non-bank financial institutions, as well as 4 independent industry directors.
“The incorporation of SPaN is an important step towards strengthening our national payment infrastructures under a unified governance structure,
“SPaN will set the foundation for the banking and payments industries to collaborate more effectively to build and facilitate greater resilience and innovation across Singapore’s payment infrastructures,” said Chia Der Jiun, Managing Director of MAS.
Helen Wong, ABS Chairman, said the streamlined governance of national payment schemes under SPaN will enable financial institutions to respond swiftly and innovate effectively to meet the evolving digital payment needs of consumers and businesses.
“ABS and its member banks are committed to supporting SPaN in its mission to advance a robust and future-ready payment ecosystem that would be critical to Singapore’s economy,” she added.
MAS clarifies regulatory regime for digital token service providers