A year after its launch in 2022, Singapore-based digital bank Trust Bank reached a 12 per cent market share, becoming one of the world’s fastest-growing digital banks. By the end of 2023, the company said that its customer base had grown to over 700,000, or 14 per cent of Singapore’s bankable population, with deposits grown to S$1.9 billion (US$1.4 billion).

“Since we went live, we have been fortunate to have received very, very strong client feedback and adoption … It has been a strong start, even though it is very early days for us,” Trust Bank CEO Dwaipayan Sadhu tells e27 in an interview.

Trust Bank is a joint venture between Standard Chartered and FairPrice Group, whose network of businesses includes coffee shop chain Kopitiam and insurance group Income Insurance. This large ecosystem of companies is viewed as one of the keys behind Trust Bank’s success.

“The fact that we are an ecosystem and are integrated into various parts of the client’s daily lives helps us create real value for clients. For example, almost all Singapore residents have a LinkPoints card. Trust is the only way to accelerate your rewards on it,” Sadhu points out.

“We know that people are concerned about inflation and the cost of daily living. And the fact that Trust allows you to get tangible savings at FairPrice makes it a compelling value proposition for clients.”

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Another key point is the improved user experience that Trust Bank offers customers and the proposition built around simplicity and transparency.

“If you look at the market, there are many innovative and complex products. However, clients often tell us that products become too complex over time. As a result, clients feel that many headline rates seem very attractive, but they cannot enjoy those rates or do not know how they can enjoy them.”

Digital banking customers in Singapore

When it comes to the profile of digital banking customers, one usually assumes that this service is geared towards the younger generation. However, according to Sadhu, the one surprising thing about their user profile is how well-distributed their demographics are.

“When we were first launched, there was some myth or expectation in the market that digital banks mostly attract only young customers. Younger customers are usually the early adopters of digital banks. But our experience has not been like that,” he says.

“We have clients who are young, much older, and in the middle age. We have a very well-distributed profile of clients mirroring the Singaporean population. This is possibly a reflection of the fact that everybody has digitalised over the last three to four years. So, it is no longer the case that some people are digital and some are physical, though it is true that some people might be further ahead in the digital curve.”

When asked about key learnings about the Singapore digital bank customers, Sadhu shares two key points: Singapore digital bank customers love rewards. They are also already accustomed to banking products.

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This delivers a particular challenge for any banking service entering the market.

“It is not a question of getting somebody unbanked to bank with you; it is more of making sure that you meet the unmet needs,” Sadhu points out.

“A great example is the interest rate that banks promised them but do not make it easy to earn. So, how do we build on that? How do we ensure that our terms and conditions for maximising interest rate and reward points are transparently built into the app so that every time you spend on the card, it is clear how far you have progressed and how much more to go to maximise your earnings. And clients have told us they liked this transparency because it is not something they enjoy with anybody else.”

This learning helps Trust Bank figure out the next innovation they want to launch. Sadhu points out that most digital banks are launched in the market with just one product, introducing a new product line as they go. However, Trust Bank went live with various products, including a credit card, a deposit account, and general insurance, distributed from NTUC Income.

“We knew having a wide product set is important in a competitive market like Singapore. We have held many client sessions, and clients have also told us they want a wider product offering than just a single product,” he says.

“Since then, we have further enhanced our products. For example, we have introduced personalised financial management or PFM. As a tool in the app, we have brought more forms of insurance. We have also introduced supplementary credit cards and an unsecured loan product, which we call instant loan, towards the middle of last year.”

It is also looking forward to bringing more variants of loan products and building investment propositions.

What is next for Trust Bank

Trust Bank is currently run by a team of 260 people based in Singapore.

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For the next stage of their journey, the company plans to build on the milestones they have achieved in less than two years since their debut.

“We want to establish ourselves as not just a digital bank, but as a major bank in Singapore,” Sadhu says when asked about the company’s 2024 plan.

“We believe that we want to establish ourselves as the fourth largest bank in Singapore. As a new entrant just launched in 2022, exiting 2024 as the fourth largest bank in Singapore will be ambitious, but it will also be quite a statement to make in the market.”

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Image Credit: Trust Bank

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