SINGAPORE, Dec 30 — South-east Asia’s ride-hailing company Grab Holdings Inc is teaming up with Singapore Telecommunications Ltd (Singtel) to apply for a digital full bank licence in Singapore.

In a joint statement, the two companies said they will set up a consortium which is 60 per cent owned by Grab and 40 per cent by Singtel.

Grab and Singtel said they are committed to contributing to the financial services sector with a differentiated offering that addresses the unmet and underserved needs of consumer and enterprise segments in Singapore.

Reuben Lai, senior managing director at Grab Financial Group, said the core of Grab’s mission has always been to solve everyday challenges and unlock economic potential in Southeast Asia.

"In the past two years, we have launched and scaled financial services such as e-money, lending and insurance distribution into Southeast Asia’s largest fintech (financial technology) ecosystem.

"The natural next step is to build a truly customer-centric digital bank that will deliver a variety of banking and financial services that are accessible, transparent and affordable,” he said.

According to the statement, the digital bank aims to cater to the needs of digital-first consumers, who have come to expect greater convenience and personalisation, and the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) which cite lack of access to credit as a key pain point.

Grab and Singtel have been driving innovation and financial inclusion with their respective financial services including Dash, VIA, GrabPay and GrabInsure.

Meanwhile, Arthur Lang, chief executive officer of Singtel’s International Group, said: "Together with Grab, which has extensive digital expertise and experience in this region, we have a formidable set of assets and significant synergies to make banking more accessible and intuitive, and deliver much-needed product simplicity, speed and affordability.”

If successful in their application, Grab and Singtel would bring a whole new banking experience for everyday banking needs with personalisation, financial technology and innovation, said the statement. — Bernama