Helping businesses transact faster as part of Singapore’s move towards a Smart Nation
Extensive paperwork and lengthy application processes are two major pain points cited by business owners when transacting with government agencies.
Administering a business is hard work all on its own, and business owners need to feel supported when dealing with government transactions.
Solutions for this and many other everyday issues are continually being looked at by the Government Technology Agency of Singapore (GovTech), the government’s digital transformation arm. GovTech harnesses the power of digital technologies to strengthen Singapore’s tech capability and interconnectedness within government networks, in an endeavour to improve the quality of life in the island nation.
In an effort to enable faster, fuss-free and more secure digital transactions, and as part of a greater framework to foster a Smart Nation, GovTech spearheaded MyInfo Business in 2019.
Bringing it up a notch with MyInfo Business
This digital service is an extension of the existing MyInfo platform. Personal data services found in MyInfo have now been expanded to include corporate data with MyInfo Business. Since January 2019, MyInfo Business has been in a pilot with three local banks – Development Bank of Singapore (DBS), Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC) and United Overseas Bank (UOB) – to facilitate speedier credit assessments for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).
With the consent of the SME business owner, MyInfo Business automatically populates bank forms with business data including the basic profile of the owner, business address, UENs and names, shareholders, capital, financial highlights, grants and more. Banks retrieve the information digitally from government agencies in a secure manner, which effectively eliminates the need for paper documentation and verification, thus saving precious time for business owners.
Also read: Singapore’s GovTech agency aims to make e-gov services user friendly
Through MyInfo Business, banks were able to process account openings and loan applications faster, cutting down transaction time by 60 to 70 percent on average.
SMEs would also enjoy the benefit of streamlined operations, shortened application times, reduced reliance on hard copy submissions, and improved access to commercial services.
“It’s a hassle-free experience with MyInfo Business. All we have to do is login and submit already-verified information to the bank. This would have taken us days to complete in the past, but now it only requires a streamlined eight minutes to process,” said Mr Eric Chua, Chief Executive Officer at Rocket Buzzer.
A springboard for business management
Beyond the pilot, MyInfo Business APIs are scheduled for release in the second half of 2019. This would further promote the development of intuitive and convenient digital commercial services for SMEs, and is part of the Singapore government’s efforts to co-create a Smart Nation with the private sector. It is expected that around 220,000 SMEs would gain from this initiative.
Enterprises looking to offer B2B digital services via MyInfo Business can visit https://business.myinfo.gov.sg to find out more, and subscribe to the mailing list to receive updates on the service.
A national digital identity in a Smart Nation: the future and beyond
MyInfo Business is a vital component of Singapore’s National Digital Identity (NDI) platform, which also encompasses SingPass, CorpPass, and MyInfo. With NDI as a key enabler for Singapore’s Smart Nation vision, citizens and businesses alike will benefit from the growth of seamless and secure digital transactions. The NDI platform will also be a core infrastructure which industry partners can utilise to build innovative services. As Singapore gears to accelerate adoption of technology, services like MyInfo Business will contribute greatly towards a vibrant Digital Economy.
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