Singapore’s FinTech Sector May See $3B Funding

The FinTech space in Singapore is anticipated to attract an estimated $3 billion by the end of 2021, Sopnendu Mohanty, the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s (MAS) chief FinTech officer, told Bloomberg on Monday (Nov. 8).

The amount raised is expected to be triple that of 2020’s sum, and comes at a time when Singapore is making moves to be a regional hub for capital raising in the region. Mohanty anticipates that digital banking will become a bigger rival to legacy banks as new products and services are introduced for smartphones.

“They will be far more efficient, their use of tech stack wins on the cost transaction, hence they will be more competitive,” Mohanty said.

In 2020, Singapore issued four financial services licenses to non-bank firms, which included an entity developed between Grab and Singapore Telecommunications, Sea Ltd. and a local unit of Ant Group. The digital banks are anticipated to start operating early next year.

See also: FinTech Airwallex Granted Payment License from Singapore’s Central Bank

The MAS cleared Airwallex for a Major Payment Institution License on Monday (Nov. 8). Airwallex has plans to introduce a full suite of payment products and services in Singapore next year to help small businesses expand across the ASEAN region.

Read more: Standard Chartered Seeks Digital Banking Permit in Singapore

The U.K.’s Standard Chartered bank, which was granted a full Singaporean banking license last year, partnered with Singapore’s National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) to launch a digital-only bank. Singapore’s neighbor Malaysia is also planning to grant its own digital banking licenses in 2022, PYMNTS reported.

A banking license in Singapore requires that applicants have roughly $1.1 billion in paid-up capital if already in operation, or $100 million for digital wholesale banks.