Two More Chinese Consortiums Join Race for Virtual Banking License in Singapore

Two more Chinese-led consortiums have announced plans to compete for the virtual banking licenses on offer from the Singaporean central bank.

E-commerce company Zall Smart Commerce Group and real estate developer Greenland Group have both formed consortiums to apply for digital wholesale banking licenses from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).

Hong Kong-listed Zall’s consortium partners include Japanese trading company Marubeni Crop. and Singapore’s Global eTrade Services.

Zall has prior experience with virtual banking, having launched Wuhan Zhongbang Bank (Z-Bank) in 2017 in China.

The Wuhan-headquartered e-commerce platform’s main operations include wholesale trading services, property, logistics, warehousing, finance, online trading and big data.

Greenland Group’s Greenland Financial and financing company MinIPO lead the other Chinese consortium, and have said that their goal is the creation of a digital bank that provides fintech solutions to Singaporean small businesses.

MAS said that it has received a total of 21 applications for digital banking licenses, with the successful applicants scheduled for announcement in June.

Other Chinese applicants for digital banking licenses in Singapore include Alibaba-affiliate Ant Financial, Tik-Tok creator Bytedance, and Hong Kong-listed Sheng Ye Capital.

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