FAST (Fast And Secure Transfers)
A Singapore dollar transfer that reaches the payee almost instantly, around the clock — but the banks settle their net positions in central bank money later, through MEPS+. Instant for the customer, deferred-net for the banks.
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Riya asks Bank Alfa to pay Arjun
Riya (payer) → Bank Alfa (sending bank)
On a Saturday Riya opens her banking app and instructs Bank Alfa to send SGD 500.00 to Arjun at Nordbank using FAST. FAST runs 24/7, so the weekend does not matter. Nothing has moved yet — this is only a request.
Step 1 of 7: Riya asks Bank Alfa to pay Arjun
- 02PostingBank Alfa debits RiyaBank Alfa (sending bank)
- 03Clearing obligationSACH clears the transfer instantly and routes it to NordbankBank Alfa (sending bank) → FAST / SACH (Singapore Automated Clearing House)
- 05PostingNordbank credits Arjun almost instantlyNordbank (receiving bank)
- 06ProcessingArjun can spend the money immediatelyNordbank (receiving bank) → Arjun (payee)
- 07SettlementLater, the banks settle their net positions in MEPS+FAST / SACH (Singapore Automated Clearing House) → MEPS+ (MAS)
Full step-by-step text (works without JavaScript)
- 02PostingBank Alfa debits RiyaBank Alfa (sending bank)
Bank Alfa validates the details, checks Riya has the funds, and reduces her balance by SGD 500.00 on its own books. The money has left Riya, but Arjun does not have it yet and the banks have not settled — those are later steps.
- DR Riya's current account at Bank Alfa — SGD 500.00
- 03Clearing obligationSACH clears the transfer instantly and routes it to NordbankBank Alfa (sending bank) → FAST / SACH (Singapore Automated Clearing House)
Bank Alfa sends the transfer to the Singapore Automated Clearing House, which clears it in real time and routes it straight on to Nordbank. This clearing leg confirms the obligation between the banks — it does not move central bank money.
SACH clears FAST payments the moment they arrive, one by one. It records what each bank owes but does not settle the cash here — that happens later in MEPS+.
- 05PostingNordbank credits Arjun almost instantlyNordbank (receiving bank)
Nordbank checks the beneficiary account and credits Arjun SGD 500.00 on its own books, within moments of Riya pressing send. Nordbank now holds this money for Arjun and will recover it from Bank Alfa at settlement.
- CR Arjun's current account at Nordbank — SGD 500.00
- 06ProcessingArjun can spend the money immediatelyNordbank (receiving bank) → Arjun (payee)
Arjun sees SGD 500.00 in his account and can spend it straight away, even though the banks have not yet settled between themselves. This gap — payee paid now, banks settled later — is the exposure Nordbank carries in the meantime.
- 07SettlementLater, the banks settle their net positions in MEPS+FAST / SACH (Singapore Automated Clearing House) → MEPS+ (MAS)
After Arjun already has the money, SACH prepares net settlement files totalling each bank's position and sends them to MEPS+, the real-time gross settlement system run by MAS. The banks settle those net amounts in central bank money at MAS. This is deferred-net settlement — SACH nets, MEPS+ settles.
FAST clears in real time but settles on a deferred, netted basis. SACH sends net settlement files to MEPS+, and only one net figure per bank per cycle moves in central bank money — not SGD 500.00 on its own.
- DR Bank Alfa net position at MAS (in MEPS+) — SGD 500.00 (as part of the net file)
- CR Nordbank net position at MAS (in MEPS+) — SGD 500.00 (as part of the net file)
What this simplifies: FAST clears in real time through SACH but settles deferred-net in MEPS+ at MAS; this diagram shows a single net settlement leg and abstracts the exact number and timing of daily settlement files, plus the detailed screening and validation checks.
Sources for this flow2
- Official requirement
FAST and PayNow ↗ — Association of Banks in Singapore
FAST clears in real time but settles net via MEPS+; PayNow is an addressing overlay on FAST, not a separate settlement system.
- Simplified educational illustration
Payments Signal editorial teaching models — Payments Signal
What this simplifies: One net settlement leg stands in for the scheme's defined cycles; the exact number and timing of net settlement files sent from SACH to MEPS+ are abstracted, and screening and validation detail is shown in outline.
Used wherever diagrams, scenarios, figures, or example values are didactic constructions rather than sourced facts; every such use carries a simplifications disclosure. All people, companies, banks, and list entries in examples are fictional.