China’s Ant Group launches ANEXT digital bank in Singapore

A man walks past the Ant Group logo at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) in Shanghai, China, July 8, 2021. REUTERS/Yili Sun/File Photo

BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s Ant Group, the financial technology giant controlled by billionaire Jack Ma, said on Monday it had launched a digital wholesale bank based in Singapore, called ANEXT Bank.

ANEXT, wholly owned by ANEXT, said in a joint statement, ANEXT has received approval from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to start business on June 2.

The move marks one of Ant’s biggest offshore gains since it was derailed from a $37 billion initial public offering (IPO) by Chinese regulators in late 2020.

Ant acquired Singapore’s first wholesale digital banking licenses at the end of 2020, allowing it to serve major clients, including financial institutions and corporations.

Ant, about 33% owned by the leading e-commerce company Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (9988.HK)he said, that ANEXT’s focus has been on micro, small and medium enterprises (SMEs), particularly those operating across borders.

“This marks another milestone in the journey to develop the digital bank in Singapore, and is a strategic effort to ensure the banking sector continues to progress, globally competitive and vibrant,” said Subindo Mohanty, Head of MAS FinTech.

Technology company Sea and a venture from passenger transportation services and fintech firm Grab won licenses for “full digital banks” in 2020, allowing Singaporean companies to take deposits and provide services locally to individual and corporate customers.

MAS said it expects the couple to launch digital banks this year.

The statement showed that ANEXT, with the support of banking veteran Toh Su Mei, will develop an open framework for financial institutions in collaboration with Proxtera, a local entity set up by MAS and Singapore’s Infocomm Media Development Authority.

The companies said that the ANEXT Business Account will be available to small and medium businesses starting in the third quarter of this year.

(Reporting by Yinji Yang and Brenda Goh) Editing by Kim Coogle and Christopher Cushing

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