Ping An Insurance (Group) Co.’s fintech subsidiary is considering a foray into Singapore’s digital banking sector.
OneConnect plans to apply for one of the new digital banking licenses recently unveiled by the Singaporean government according to an anonymous source who spoke to Bloomberg.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore plans to provide five digital-only banking licenses to companies from outside the banking sector, as part of efforts to foster competition.
Applications will be open until the end of the year, with two retail banking licenses available for Singaporean-owned firms, and three wholesale licenses available to both domestic and foreign applicants.
According to the source OneConnect hopes to obtain a wholesale license which will enable it to provide digital banking services to small and medium-sized businesses in Singapore.
OneConnect has already obtained a license to conduct virtual banking operations in Hong Kong, and provides its artificial intelligence and cloud computing services to over 3,700 financial companies.
