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      Lawrence Chan

      Lawrence Chan

      Group Chief Executive Officer

      Network for Electronic Transfers (Singapore)

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      Lawrence brings over 30 years of deep and diversified experience to his position as Group CEO of NETS.

      He is responsible for the companies in NETS Group, positioning the organisation as the industry operator, builder of payment infrastructure and winning the hearts and minds of consumers and merchants. Under his leadership, Lawrence has successfully increased digital payment adoption through NETS wide merchant network domestically and enabled cross-border payments where connectivity with overseas payments rails have been established.

      To differentiate NETS in the rapidly evolving digital payment space, Lawrence is focusing on driving NETS value proposition through innovative solutions, aligning to the organisation’s purpose statement – Connecting Communities, Empowering Lives.

      Prior to joining NETS, he served as Vice President – Regional Client Management, Asia Pacific for Visa and was responsible for managing regional acquirers and regional merchants. Lawrence also previously held leadership positions at PayPal and American Express. At PayPal, he was Vice President and General Manager for Japan and Southeast Asia. He also served as a Director on the Board of PayPal Pte Ltd until 2015. At American Express, he was based in Japan for four years, where he led the Merchant business before returning to Singapore and assuming the position of Senior Vice President, Global Payment Options, Asia Pacific.

      Lawrence currently serves as Chairman of Nexus Global Operator, a joint venture established by NETS and PayNet to build, operate and maintain the Nexus infrastructure which aims to simplify cross-border payments by connecting domestic real-time payment systems.
      In recognition of his contributions, he was awarded the Innovation Leadership Achievement Award by The Asian Banker in 2023 and the IBF Distinguished Fellow, Financial Markets in 2024. In 2025, he was also awarded the SkillsFuture Fellowship Award.

      In addition, he serves as a Board Member of the Catholic Foundation and the LaSalle Trust of Singapore, both non-profit organisations. He is also the Chairman, Board of Governors of St Joseph Institution (SJI).

      He earned his Bachelor of Science in Economics (Honours) degree from The London School of Economics and Political Science, UK.

      Speaking at SFF 2026

      • 11:30am–12:00pmWed 18 NovMerchant AgendaMerchant Experience Zone (Hall 6)Open

        Others

        One QR, Multiple Networks: Advancing QR Interoperability for Merchants in Singapore

        Merchant AgendaMerchant Experience Zone (Hall 6)Open

        About this session

        Singapore's QR payment landscape has come a long way, but acceptance is not yet fully interoperable. Customers may still find that their preferred banking or payment app does not work at a particular QR merchant. For inbound visitors, cards work well across much of Singapore, but gaps remain at hawker centres and smaller merchants, where those without supported payment apps may still need to use cash.
         
        PayNow Generation 2 has outlined the next step: a proposed SGQR+ switch that would provide a common routing layer across participating payment schemes and merchant networks, while preserving existing infrastructure and merchant-acquiring relationships. The opportunity is broader acceptance without requiring every network to establish separate connections with every other network.
         
        But interoperability is not just a technical question. It is also a commercial and operational one. Who pays when a transaction crosses networks? How should it be routed and settled? What happens when something goes wrong? And can broader acceptance be delivered without undermining the low-cost economics that merchants value? These are among the design questions that still need to be worked through.
         
        This session brings together payment networks and ecosystem players to examine what a more interoperable QR future could mean at the merchant counter: broader domestic and tourist acceptance, scalable network connectivity, sustainable economics and a payment experience that merchants can rely on transaction after transaction.

      • 4:00–4:30pmWed 18 NovPolicy StageHall 3, Singapore EXPOOpen

        Policy Rewiring

        Who Builds the Bridge Between National Payment Schemes; and Who Owns the Toll?

        Policy StageHall 3, Singapore EXPOOpen

        About this session

        National instant payment schemes are proliferating around the world, yet most remain valuable only within their own borders. As domestic networks mature, the next source of value lies not in individual schemes, but in the bridges that connect them.

        This session explores the emerging cross-border interoperability layer: who is building it, how common messaging standards and technical frameworks make it possible, and how governance, costs, revenues, and risks are shared among the parties involved. The discussion will examine the different models being adopted globally, from bilateral connections to multilateral networks and shared infrastructure platforms.

        Participants will leave with a clearer understanding of where payment interoperability is succeeding in practice, what challenges remain, and the trade-offs between different connectivity approaches.

        One of the central questions the panel will explore is: when one country's instant payment scheme needs to communicate with another's, who builds the bridge, and who owns the toll?

      • 3:00–3:15pmThu 19 NovIgnite StageHall 5, Singapore EXPOOpen

        Technology Rewiring

        Beyond Payments: Data to Fuel Merchant Growth - Powered by NETS

        Ignite StageHall 5, Singapore EXPOOpen

        About this session

        Payment networks sit at the heart of commerce, generating transaction insights that can unlock value for businesses. This session examines how payment intelligence can help businesses better understand customers, identify growth opportunities, unlock new value-added services, and accelerate merchant growth.