StanChart joins tech giants with Singapore digital bank

Bloomberg

Standard Chartered Plc’s joint venture with an arm of Singapore’s biggest trade union group started digital banking services in the city-state, adding to rivalry in the space where tech giants are also seeking to make their mark.
Trust Bank, in which the UK firm holds 60%, is offering savings accounts, credit cards and insurance products, targeting workers and their families with benefits aimed at cushioning the pain of rising inflation, according to a statement by firms. Fairprice Group, which runs supermarkets and food courts across the island, holds the remaining stake in the venture along with NTUC Enterprise.
Singapore is set to see intensifying competition in financial services as the likes of Jack Ma’s Ant Group Co. and Grab Holdings Ltd. challenge the area traditionally controlled by lenders led by DBS Group Holdings Ltd., the country’s largest. For Standard Chartered, backed by state investor Temasek Holdings Pte., this will be its second digital bank in Asia, following the launch of Mox in Hong Kong in 2020.
The new digital bank will also offer automatic teller machine services primarily via Standard Chartered’s local network.
The Fairprice Group engages with some one million clients everyday through its various outlets, according to Trust Bank’s Chief Executive Officer Dwaipayan Sadhu. “We should be able to tap into that ecosystem,” Sadhu said at a briefing. The supermarket group has a network of close to 570 touchpoints including groceries and meal offerings.
The new digital bank will also offer automatic teller machine services primarily via Standard Chartered’s local network, he added.
The Trust Bank launch follows close on the heels of Grab and Singapore Telecommunications Ltd., which earlier said their banking app will roll out next week. That group obtained one of two full digital banking licenses in 2020 that allow deposit taking and serve both retail and corporate customers. The other license holder is Sea Ltd., which has not disclosed much details of its plans yet. Unlike the tech firms, Standard Chartered does not need such a permit because of its banking status.
The Covid-19 pandemic has prompted people to use more digital services, Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said at the Trust Bank event. “With greater digital adoption in financial services, there is much potential for the banking sector to relook how to do things differently and serve customers better,” Wong said.
Singapore joins the UK and Hong Kong in opening up to digital-only financial services, seeking to cement its position as a regional center for fintech and wealth management.