Singapore – ANEXT Bank, a digital wholesale bank in Singapore under Ant Group, has announced its soft launch. This follows its receipt of the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s (MAS) approval to commence business on 2 June 2022.
The new digital bank will focus on providing digital financial services to local and regional MSMEs, especially those engaging in cross-border operations for growth and global expansion.
Toh Su Mei, ANEXT Bank’s CEO, believes that it’s time to offer the next generation of financial services that are accessible and effortless for growing businesses, and financial services have to evolve and be where SMEs are doing their businesses digitally.
“We are well-positioned to live up to this vision, leveraging Ant Group’s deep bench of technologies and know-how, along with our customer-obsessed local team dedicated to serving the SME community. Adopting an open and collaborative approach, we believe in joining hands with industry partners and the public sector to provide SMEs with financial services that are simpler, safer and more rewarding,” she said
Meanwhile, Sopnendu Mohanty, chief fintech officer at MAS, said that this marks yet another milestone in Singapore’s digital bank development journey, a strategic effort to ensure the banking sector remains progressive, globally competitive and vibrant.
“MAS expects the digital banks to thrive and synergise with our dynamic financial institutions and raise the bar in delivering quality financial services and uplift Singapore’s financial sector to better support the growth of SMEs in Singapore, the region and in emerging markets,” added Mohanty.
ANEXT Bank has also signed a two-year MoU with Proxtera – the entity supported by MAS, the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) and private sector entities, to transform and enable holistic cross-border trade amongst SMEs and businesses by making marketplaces efficient and discoverable globally, with embedded financing, fulfilment services, and SME empowerment.
The MoU will see both organisations jointly create and establish an open framework for all participating financial institutions as they provide financing and risk mitigation support for SMEs and platforms in global trades. ANEXT Bank will also be Proxtera’s first participating digital wholesale bank in Singapore to lead the way in providing financing solutions to the buyers and sellers on Proxtera’s network.
Saurav Bhattacharyya, Proxtera’s CEO, shared that their commitment is to simplify global trade for SMEs and uplift them with the power of networks, leveraging modern technology to improve discoverability, accessibility, availability, and affordability of innovative digital services.
“This mission is closely aligned with ANEXT Bank’s focus to serve SMEs engaging in cross-border operations. Together with ANEXT Bank’s digital-born identity and digital-first capabilities and services, I’m confident that we can make trade easier, more seamless and efficient for SMEs,” said Bhattacharyya.
As part of its soft launch, ANEXT Bank has provided a preview of the ANEXT Business Account, a dual-currency deposit account with proprietary security measures including three-factor authentication verification, as well as features, such as remote onboarding and daily interest.
The bank is also calling on SMEs to share their thoughts on what they hope to see in financial services – it recognises in order to bring about what’s next in financial services, it starts with the needs of SMEs. Entries, as well as registrations of interest to open an account, are available from today via its website www.ANEXT.com.sg. The ANEXT Business Account will be made available to the general SME community in the third quarter of 2022.
