The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS) announced, on June 25, the incorporation of the Singapore Payments Network (SPaN).
“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,” reads the joint release.
The news follows a Feb 12 announcement where MAS and ABS said they will establish a new entity to consolidate the administration and governance of Singapore’s national payment schemes.
The entity will be set up as a not-for-profit company limited by guarantee with the initial members being MAS and the Domestic Systemically Important Banks (D-SIBs). The D-SIBs are Citibank, DBS Bank, Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC), Maybank, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC), Standard Chartered Bank and United Overseas Bank(UOB).
A board of directors comprising 11 members will also be formed to guide SPaN’s progression to operational readiness while ensuring “sound governance” and “alignment” with its purpose. The board will also oversee SPaN’s next phase of work, which will include the onboarding of other direct participants of core national payments infrastructure as members of the company. These systems are: fast and secure transfers (FAST), the inter-bank GIRO system, the Singapore dollar cheque clearing system and US dollar cheque clearing system.
The board will comprise two senior representatives from MAS, five banks and non-bank financial institutions and four independent industry directors.
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“The incorporation of SPaN is an important step towards strengthening our national payment infrastructures under a unified governance structure,” says Chia Der Jiun, managing director of MAS. “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.”
“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,” adds Helen Wong, ABS chairman. “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.”
