Digital banking or virtual banking is a part of the evolving trend in the banking industry wherein the typical banking services are delivered entirely online. And the trend is catching up in Singapore as well. Traditional banks such as DBS and non-bank entities such as Grab are among the applicants interested in obtaining a digital-banking license.
Standard Chartered, the British multinational banking and financial services company, is planning on opening a virtual bank in Singapore in partnership with NTUC enterprise, a unit of the trade union NTUC. Alex Twigg, who was the co-founder of JudoBank and UBank in Australia, is roped in to head the digital banking venture code-named “Project Phoenix.”
It has to be noted that Standard chartered has recently been recognized as Significantly Rooted Foreign Bank (SRFB), the first even bank to earn the status. This would mean being treated as a local bank Standard chartered could launch a virtual bank at a subsidized capital, offering it a significant competitive advantage in the segment.
Furthermore, Standard Charted has already obtained a digital banking licence in Hongkong in partnership with the telecom firms PCCW and Hong Kong Telecom, and online travel agency trip.com. The initiative named Mox Bank Ltd is most likely to be launched soon, in which case Standard chartered will have a strong footing in the upcoming digital banking market enabled with licence to operate virtual banks in the region’s two major hubs.
