A Grab Holdings-Singapore Telecommunications joint venture (JV) has decided to hire 200 people before launching their virtual bank in 2022.
The Grab-Singtel consortium is one of the two firms who recently won a digital full bank licence in Singapore, Bloomberg reported.
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The licences were issued by the country’s central bank, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).
The consortium is looking to hire veteran bankers and will have open positions in technology and fintech, the report added.
In a virtual briefing, Charles Wong, who will spearhead the new entity as its CEO, announced the latest development.
So far, the digital bank has hired 10-15% of its planned workforce, Wong said.
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By GlobalDataThe JV will offer a full suite of digital banking services to local customers. Grab, which is a ride-hailing startup backed by SoftBank Group, owns 60% of the business.
Singtel is a telecommunications brand that offers mobile, fibre broadband and TV services. It owns the remaining 40%.
Grab’s fintech arm Grab Financial Group senior MD Reuben Lai said: “There is no other platform in Singapore that delivers daily essential services to the lives of our customers, multiple times a week.
“That gives us a touch-point that enables us to embed financial services.”
The other bidder who won full digital banking licence from the MAS was Sea, a company backed by tech giant Tencent Holdings.
MAS has also awarded a digital wholesale bank (DWB) licence to China’s Alibaba-backed Ant Group.
The same licence has also been given to a coalition between Greenland Financial Holdings Group, Linklogis Hong Kong, and Beijing Co-operative Equity Investment Fund Management.
The digital full banks will be able to take deposits and provide banking services to retail and corporate customers, while DWBs can serve SMBs and other non-consumer segments.
The MAS requires digital full banks to have at least S$1.5bn ($1.1bn) in total capital, with S$15m at entry.
Singtel international group CEO Arthur Lang said that the Grab-Singtel digital bank will require S$100m ($74.74m) for the first two years before progressively increasing the amount.
In the virtual briefing, he said: “Clearly, we are very committed to the entire amount of capital, but it is phased out over a period of time. The focus is to build this bank and run it profitably and sustainably.
“This is not a fly-by-night relationship with customers both Grab and Singtel have. We are here to build something very special.”
