GXS Bank (GXS) which is backed by a consortium consisting of Grab Holdings (Grab) and Singtel, on Wednesday launched Singapore’s first digital bank for consumers and businesses.
GXS said in a statement the bank’s launch product is the GXS savings account, which has been designed to ease the pain points that individuals experience as they save for their dreams.
According to the statement, the bank aims to revolutionise banking services for its customers by leveraging its technological capabilities and the collective power of the GXS, Grab and Singtel ecosystem.
GXS is also the first digital bank in Singapore to be awarded the Data Protection Trustmark by the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), testifying to the Bank’s best-in-class data protection practices to keep customers’ personal data safe and secure.
To uplift basic banking standards in Singapore, GXS said its beach head strategy is providing a banking experience that addresses the pain points of Singapore’s underserved segment, such as the two in five adults who are underbanked.
“GXS is a homegrown bank on a mission to support the needs of the entrepreneurs, gig economy workers and early-jobbers in our community. To start, we are challenging the notion of what a basic savings account could do to support their goals and dreams,” said Charles Wong, Singapore Chief Executive Officer of GXS.
“Over the coming months, we will also tackle other obstacles that hinder consumers and small businesses from reaching their goals sooner, such as growing their wealth or accessing credit,” he added.
GXS’ first financial product is the GXS savings account, which is designed to address the gaps that hinder consumers such as those who are gig economy workers, self-employed entrepreneurs and early-jobbers from reaching their saving goals.
Given that cash flow is important for this group of individuals, it said the GXS aavings account enables them to earn interest daily. The account-holders also do not need to worry about being penalised with fees should they need to withdraw their savings as there is no minimum balance requirement.
The GXS savings account is also designed to encourage customers to stay disciplined with their savings without the hassle and stress that may be associated with this activity.
Understanding that consumers in Singapore have the habit of allocating different pockets of funds for different goals, GXS has an intuitive feature within its savings account known as Saving Pockets that enables customers to do just that.
In designing pockets, GXS incorporated techniques such as visualisation and smart nudges to help its customers develop and sustain a habit of saving.
For example, saving is no longer just setting money aside in an account with a string of numbers. Instead, GXS customers can customise their Pockets to make saving for their dreams personable.
In addition to naming their Pockets, customers can choose to tag their Pockets to any photo which resonates with their goals.
To help them stay on track with their saving habit, GXS also sends timely nudges to customers, such as encouraging them to top up their Pockets when they’re close to their goals or cheering them on the progress they have made.
A digital native, GXS is built to stay nimble and agile alongside customers as their needs change over time and their expectations are continually shaped by technology.
For example, GXS has built a data infrastructure that enables the bank to analyse data swiftly in order to generate extensive and meaningful insights. GXS uses these insights to develop, refine and iterate new features, services and conversations that matter to its customers.
“GXS is uniquely positioned to learn and to refine the banking experience so that it is extremely personalised and relevant to customers because we are part of a powerhouse ecosystem that includes Grab and Singtel,
“Their platforms are used daily by more than three million Singaporeans. The frequent interactions between consumers and the platforms within our ecosystem provide us with deeper and sharper insights on what our customers need and how we can serve them seamlessly across all touchpoints within our ecosystem,” said Wong.
As customers continue to make transactions and interact within the ecosystem, GXS said it is able to understand their banking needs more deeply and offer them hyper-personalised support.
GXS’ digital bank app will be available in Apple’s App Store and the Google Play Store from September 5. The bank’s services will be rolled out progressively to consumers thereafter, starting with selected employees and underbanked customers within the GXS, Grab and Singtel ecosystem.
Singapore FinTech firm banco raises $6.7M Series A round led by SBI Group