Singapore Payments Network (SPaN), the not for profit body created by the Monetary Authority of Singapore and the Association of Banks in Singapore to administer the country’s national payment schemes, has named Derek Chan as its first chief executive. Jacqueline Loh, Deputy Managing Director (Corporate Development) at MAS, chairs its 11 member board.
Chan brings close to two decades in payments, including scheme development, payments operations and industry engagement at global card schemes. He was most recently Chief Business Officer of Banking Computer Services, the NETS subsidiary that manages Singapore’s payment infrastructure and operates its national payment schemes.
SPaN is due to begin operations in early 2027. Its first task is moving the schemes from their current administrators without disruption. Over time it is expected to strengthen governance and operational resilience, modernise core payment infrastructure and deepen regional connectivity.
Loh, who joined MAS in 1987, becomes Principal Advisor in the MAS Managing Director’s office on 1 November and will remain SPaN chair. “SPaN was established to consolidate the governance and development of Singapore’s national payment schemes,” Chan said.
Digital Trade Outlook’s View: Singapore Separates Who Runs the Rails From Who Governs Them
Singapore is moving scheme governance away from the operator and into a body that the central bank and the banks control together. Hiring the operator’s own chief business officer to lead it should make the handover smooth. It also tests how independent SPaN can be from the infrastructure it now oversees. For banks, the gain is a single owner of the domestic rulebook as Singapore deepens regional connectivity. The question for 2027 is whether SPaN sets the pace on modernisation or inherits the operator’s roadmap.
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