Nonprofit entity Singapore Payments Network to take over national payment schemes

On June 25, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS) jointly announced the incorporation of a new payments entity, named the Singapore Payments Network (SPaN). 

The continuation of a previous announcement made in February 2025, this move proclaims the government’s intention to standardise Singapore’s national payments infrastructure. The current national payment system has multiple stakeholders overseeing different payment schemes, including the Singapore Clearing House Association, the Association of Banks in Singapore, MAS and the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA). 

Under SPaN, the management of payment systems including PayNow, FAST, eGIRO and Singapore Quick Response Codes will be consolidated, with SPaN overseeing all payment schemes. As members of the company, MAS and the Domestic Systemically Important Banks will continue governing national and cross border payment schemes, promote active collaboration amongst stakeholders, and continue to innovate and revolutionise Singapore’s national payments infrastructure. 

Over the years, Singapore’s national payments system has drawn much scrutiny from both media and overseas stakeholders as the government embraces going digital. Digital payments are fully integrated into many aspects of Singaporean life, with consumers choosing to use PayNow and QR code payment at shops, while eGIRO is commonly used to pay off fees like loans and school fees. FAST and SGQR both play indispensable roles in corporate transactions within and outside of Singapore. 

However, this has resulted in occasional disruptions affecting much of the population — bank outages frequently make the news, with the most recent one happening on June 2 for three and a half hours. Cyberattacks on banks have previously demonstrated the power to disrupt the national payment system, with the October 2023 cyberattacks rendering millions of transactions unable to go through. Services were only restored more than 12 hours later. The consolidation of payment systems governance under SPaN will hopefully streamline communications between Singapore banks and the government, as well as strengthen existing infrastructure.

SPaN is expected to be fully operational by 2026, with the onboarding of members from core national payment infrastructures and the handing over of administrative powers from existing scheme administrators. Strategic direction will be provided by senior representatives of MAS as well as industry leaders from the financial services sector. Additionally, MAS has also announced its intention to form industry committees under SPaN to better engage key stakeholders like banks and specific user groups to support its strategy development. 

Ms Helen Wong, Chairman of ABS, 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.”