The Monetary Authority of Singapore and the Association of Banks in Singapore incorporated Singapore Payments Network (SPaN), a not-for-profit entity to administer and govern national payment schemes including FAST, Inter-bank GIRO, and cheque clearing.
Governance Structure
Domestically systemically important banks (DBS, OCBC, UOB, Citi, HSBC, Maybank, Standard Chartered) are founding participants. SPaN will be operationally ready by end 2026, consolidating scheme management that was previously fragmented across multiple entities.
Why This Matters
SPaN represents a structural governance overhaul of Singapore's entire national payment infrastructure - similar to Pay.UK's role in the United Kingdom or Payments Canada's in Canada. Centralizing scheme governance under a single entity positions FAST/PayNow for next-generation features, cross-border expansion (particularly through Nexus Global Payments, which is also headquartered in Singapore), and clearer accountability for service levels and innovation.
Regional Context
With Nexus Global Payments also incorporated in Singapore (April 2025), the city-state is emerging as the governance hub for both domestic and multilateral instant payment infrastructure in Asia-Pacific.