Singapore: Monetary Authority and the Association of Banks to establish new payments entity „to position National Payment Schemes for next stage of growth”

This transition will open doors for greater collaborations with international digital wallets and financial institutions.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS) jointly announced that a new entity will be set up to consolidate the administration and governance of Singapore’s national payment schemes^[1] to position these schemes for the next stage of growth. The entity will also collaborate with MAS on the development of Singapore’s national payments strategy, „ensuring a safe, efficient and innovative payments infrastructure” – according to the press release.

Today, Singapore national payment schemes^[2], such as Fast And Secure Transfers (FAST), Inter-bank GIRO System, PayNow and Singapore Quick Response Code (SGQR), are widely used by consumers and businesses in their daily activities, offering a broad range of options for domestic and cross-border payments. These schemes are administered and governed by specific scheme administrators, namely, Singapore Clearing House Association (SCHA), ABS, MAS and Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA).

„The consolidation of the administration and governance of these schemes under a single entity will enhance coordination and decision-making across national payment schemes, enabling our financial institutions and payment service providers to better harness opportunities in global payments and spur further growth and innovation in Singapore’s payments sector.” – the MAS said.

The new entity will be governed by senior representatives from MAS and the financial services industry, who will provide strategic direction to the entity’s management team. Additionally, industry committees will be formed under the new entity to engage banks, payment services providers and key user groups such as industry and business associations to support strategy development.

„There will be no changes to the operations and scheme rules of the national payment schemes as they are consolidated to the new entity. Further details on the entity name, governance structure and board composition will be announced later this year.” – the MAS explained.
 
Mr Chia Der Jiun – Managing Director of MAS, said, “Consolidating the administrative and governance responsibilities of all national payment schemes under a single entity will strengthen the governance of these schemes and contribute towards greater payments resilience and innovation.” 

Mr Piyush Gupta – ABS Chairman, said, “ABS and member banks look forward to working closely with the industry to achieve Singapore’s goal as a Smart Financial Centre. The new payments entity will enable us to rationalise our various payment rails, as well as provide a springboard to leverage technology in imagining the future of payments.”

Ms Jacqueline Loh, Chairman of SCHA and Deputy Managing Director (Corporate Development) of MAS, said, “By channelling the payments industry’s resources and expertise into a single entity, this initiative will strengthen existing capabilities in the oversight of resilience and safety of the payment schemes and ensure consistent implementation of national e-payment strategies across the various payment schemes. SCHA is committed to see through the smooth transition to the new entity.” 
 
Mr Leong Der Yao, Assistant Chief Executive (Sectoral Transformation) of IMDA, said, “IMDA and MAS have jointly developed and advanced the SGQR scheme since 2017, making it one of Singapore’s most widely adopted payment systems. The transfer of SGQR scheme administration and governance, along with other payment schemes, to the new single entity will streamline the local payments landscape, delivering a more seamless experience for businesses and consumers. This transition will also open doors for greater collaborations with international digital wallets and financial institutions.”

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^[1] Payment schemes are generally enabled through a number of national payment networks, each governed by an agreed set of rules and procedures. These rules determine, among others, the access of participants to the network, pricing for using the network and the operational and security standards that these participants are expected to maintain in using the network and in providing payment services to their customers. The participants and the set of rules and procedures for each payment network are referred to as a payment scheme. The entities administrating and governing these payment schemes are known as scheme administrators. Similar to existing scheme administrators, the new entity will not be regulated as it is not involved in the day-to-day operations of payment schemes.

^[2] Please refer to the Annex for the full list of national payment schemes and their respective scheme administrators.

Annex – List of National Payment Schemes and Respective Scheme Administrators  (117.5 KB)