8 Best Digital Business Bank Accounts in Singapore (2023)​

Today, opening a corporate account for the company in many traditional banks is not the easiest task, especially for a start-up business. Gone are the days when banks were opening bank accounts just because the company merely applied for it. In other words, the fact that the company has to conduct business and in order to do so it needs the bank account is no longer a sufficient justification. Bank accounts become a privilege, not a right. More rules are imposed on banks by regulators and the banks want to play very, very safe. These rules are not often clear and many companies fall victim to these vague policies. Unfortunately, Singapore banks are not an exception in terms of added complications in opening and maintaining bank accounts. Today’s playbook implies many implicit rules which are very difficult to follow. These are policy issues. But other than that, there are many technical rules which can be difficult for new businesses as well: high amounts of initial deposits, high account opening fees, requirements for historical data of company transactions and so on.

But the financial technology does not stand still. Instead, it is rather actively developing. There is an increasing number of FinTech companies that provide their customers with fast, convenient and inexpensive B2B and B2C financial services. They are emerging in many countries around the world, and can onboard businesses from different countries. Neo-banks, payment systems, digital banks – you can call them differently, but they are all examples of a new class of financial institutions, which are based on the latest technologies in the field of finance. They provide services to customers completely online. These institutions do not need to open physical branches and maintain human tellers. These are some of the reasons why their services are much cheaper than conventional banks.

Singapore government actively supports and encourages the development of such financial services. To date, 206 Major Payment Institution Licences have already been issued in Singapore, which is around 20% increase just from a year ago. License allows FinTech companies to open current accounts for their clients, execute international payments and currency conversion. In addition, the Singapore Central Bank already started to issue “Full Digital Bank Licences” and “Wholesale digital bank licences” which are currently in operation by few banks.

Despite the rapid growth and active development, online banks and payment systems are still something unusual for many businesses. Because of these reasons, this segment of the financial industry has not fully revealed its potential. However, each of the payment systems may have its own specific set of services that might be suitable for some and not for others. In this article, we will help you understand the differences between the main payment systems available for Singapore and other companies and choose the most suitable one for your business.

We present an overview of 8 online banking solutions for businesses available in Singapore. We will update the list once we have a new information available.