- Kyle Chua
Alibaba's Ant Group Launches Digital Bank for Small Business in Singapore
China’s Ant Group, an affiliate of the Alibaba Group, on Monday launched Anext Bank in Singapore, a financial services provider focused on serving small- and medium-size enterprises (SMEs).
According to Channel News Asia, the bank, which was issued its licence in December of last year, said it received the greenlight from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to start operations on Thursday, 2 June. It’s the second digital wholesale bank to launch over the last few days, with the first being Green Link Digital Bank, a consortium consisting of China’s Greenland Financial and Linklogis Hong Kong.
Anext Bank noted its targeting regional micro and SMEs, particularly "those engaging in cross-border operations for growth and global expansion". The company’s CEO Toh Su Mei added that financial services have to be able to keep up with businesses that are now going digital-first. This means providing financial services that are "simpler" and "safer" to use online to better address the needs of the often underserved SME sector. And for that, the company looks to leverage Ant Group’s technologies and expertise in the digital space.
The bank is reportedly starting with a dual-currency deposit account, which includes remote onboarding and three-factor authentication verification for security. This will be called the Anext Business account, and it will be available to SMEs sometime in the third quarter of this year. Interested applicants can now register via the bank’s website.
Meanwhile, when it comes to interest rates, Ms. Toh promised her company is not out to create a "price war" and will instead quote "market rates".
Anext Bank also signed a two-year memorandum of understanding with Proxtera, a business-to-business (B2B) marketplace network for SMEs, with support from MAS and the Infocomm Media Development Authority. Under this agreement, the two companies plan to establish an open framework for participating banks in providing financing and risk mitigation support in global trades.
"We will be evaluating those partnerships in accordance (with) giving customers a good value proposition," said Ms Toh.
MAS CFO Sopnendu Mohanty said at the launch that digital bank licencees must meet and comply with "very high" regulatory expectations, covering the use of data, cybersecurity and consumer protection, among others.
"We expect every bank to demonstrate high integrity, strong sense of consumer protection, strong focus on AML (anti-money laundering), KYC (know your customer), sanction checks - these are non-negotiable expectations from MAS," he said.
MAS also expects these companies to hire and train local talent. Anext Bank declined to reveal the size of its workforce, only commenting that it plans to expand its team as it expands its overall business. Around three-fourths of the bank’s staff are based in Singapore while the others are in China.
China’s Ant Group, an affiliate of the Alibaba Group, launched Anext Bank in Singapore, a financial services provider focused on serving small- and medium-size enterprises (SMEs).
The digital wholesale bank's CEO Toh Su Mei added that financial services have to be able to keep up with businesses that are now going digital-first. This means providing financial services that are "simpler" and "safer" to use online to better address the needs of the often underserved SME sector.
The bank is reportedly starting with a dual-currency deposit account, which includes remote onboarding and three-factor authentication verification for security. This will be called the Anext Business account, and it will be available to SMEs sometime in the third quarter of this year.