14 out of 21 digibank contenders in Singapore move to the next round

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) today announced that 14 out of 21 digital bank applications will progress to the next stage of assessment.

The 14 applications were comprised of five digital full bank applicants and nine digital wholesale bank contenders.

Photo credit: Monetary Authority of Singapore

In the next stage of assessment, the eligible applicants will be invited to present their proposals via virtual meetings, with candidates being shortlisted based on their value proposition, business model, innovative use of technology, and the ability to manage a sustainable digibank business, MAS said. The applicants will also be evaluated based on growth prospects and other contributions to Singapore’s financial center.

In light of the Covid-19 pandemic, MAS has asked the applicants to review their business plans and assumptions underpinning their financial projections, including funding sources, and provide an independent review of these assumptions.

The financial regulator said it does not expect this request to affect the timeline for awarding the licenses, which is scheduled by the end of the year.

In June 2019, the agency announced that it would issue up to two digital full bank licenses and three digital wholesale bank licenses. In January this year, a total of 21 applications – seven for digital full banking and 14 for digital wholesale banking – were received by MAS.

See: Singapore’s digital bank contenders: Who they are and what they bring to the table

Some players competing for the full bank license include a Grab and Singtel consortium, Razer Youth Bank, and Sea Group, among others. Meanwhile, an AMTD and Xiaomi consortium, Alibaba’s Ant Financial, and a Temasek-backed group are gunning for a wholesale digital banking license.

This week, Financial Times reported that TikTok operator ByteDance is in talks with the family that owns Singapore’s OCBC Bank for a digibank license in the city-state.