Enigma Group, a financial services company that specialises in analytical recruitment and executive search in the US, Middle East, and Asia Pacific, today announced that it has led a consortium comprising Singapore-based Qrypt Technologies, 2359 Media and Blockchain Worx to apply for a digital bank licence.
The consortium has submitted an application to the Monetary Authority of Singapore for a Digital Full Bank license that would allow it to provide a range of financial services and take deposits from retail and non-retail customers.
The Singapore-headquartered group is also said to plan to leverage deep expertise across financial services, experience from its multiple existing licensed financial services operations in Europe, along with emerging technologies to create financial products for the target segments.
“The ability to combine our capabilities to create a sustainable and profitable digital banking business is at the core of our strategy,” said Samuel Heng, the designated Chairman of the group.
“We have assembled a consortium that includes firms led by seasoned executives and have a breadth of expertise that spans financial services, technology operations and digital transformation,” added Malcolm Tan, Founder of Qrypt Technologies and the Gravitas Group.
According to a statement, the proposed digital bank will focus on the underbanked small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) sector as well as the fast-evolving digital workforce.
In a study conducted by Google, Temasek and Bain & Company, over 70 per cent of the adult population in Southeast Asia is either ‘underbanked’ or ‘unbanked’.
Additionally, about 80 per cent of the surveyed SMEs state the need to borrow but lack access to affordable credit despite the region’s high smartphone penetration rate.
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Enigma Group has recently signed up to acquire ownership of a UK-based challenger-bank together with its various group companies. It is separately also involved in a Swiss Wealth Management business.
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