The Ant Group, which owns Alipay, China’s largest digital payment platform, has opened a neobank in Singapore. According to a statement released today, it will be known as Anext Bank and will focus on small and medium businesses (SMEs). It has also partnered with trading platform Proxtera to provide financial solutions for SMEs interested in international trade. We’re excited to announce the soft launch of ANEXT Bank today. The Singapore-based digital bank wholly owned by @AntGroup provides digital financial services to #SMEs especially those engaging in cross-border operations. Read more here: https://t.co/emShyXrABf pic.twitter.com/KAgZ2KXwsP — Ant Group (@AntGroup) June 6, 2022 Anext Bank CEO Toh Su Mei said, “Amid rapid acceleration in the digital economy, business models are changing and pivoting to become digital-first, if not adopting a hybrid model. Financial services have to evolve and be where SMEs are doing their businesses digitally,” The bank will offer a dual-currency business account with features like remote onboarding and daily interest, presently in soft launch. From the third quarter of this year, it will be readily available. Similar Move In Hong Kong The revelation came after Ant Group made a similar move in Hong Kong. It launched consumer-focused fintech Ant Bank in 2020 after obtaining a virtual banking license from the regulatory authorities. Ant Group is headed by billionaire Jack Ma, with Alibaba owni...
