At the close of application on December 31, 2019, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) received 21 applications for digital bank licences.
This comprises seven applications for the digital full bank (DFB) licences, and 14 applications for the digital wholesale bank (DWB) licences.
"The new digital bank licences have attracted strong interest from a diverse group of applicants," MAS said in a press statement on January 7. These include e-commerce firms, technology and telecommunications companies, FinTechs (such as crowd-funding platforms and payment services providers) and financial institutions.
Of the applicants, majority are consortiums, with entities seeking to combine their individual strengths to enhance the digital bank’s value proposition.
MAS said it will be announcing the successful applicants in June 2020. Successful applicants are expected to commence business by mid-2021.
