S'pore fintech market can grow to $13b: HSBC exec

Singapore's financial technology (fintech) market will likely double in size in the next few years as banks and fintech firms leverage each other's unique strengths, said HSBC executive Shayan Hazir.

- Ovais Subhani

Mr Hazir, the bank's chief digital officer for Asean, believes Singapore's fintech ecosystem has the potential to reach US$10 billion (S$13.2 billion) in total investment value in the next three years, up from around US$4.1 billion in 2022. The number of fintech firms can also double to around 3,000 in the same period.

The ambitious goal to achieve up to US$10 billion in investments transpired at a roundtable hosted by HSBC at Elevandi's Insights Forum in 2023.

Elevandi was a non-profit that aimed to foster international collaborations on technology and innovation in financial services. It was replaced with the Global Finance and Technology Network (GFTN) by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) on Oct 30, 2024. Mr Sopnendu Mohanty, chief fintech officer at MAS, will continue to lead GFTN as group CEO.

"We have to rally the financial sector as a whole to make Singapore really shoot ahead of its ambitions," Mr Hazir told The Straits Times. "And I think that if we don't set out big, ambitious, lofty goals, we're not going to galvanise as an industry together."

Partnerships between banks and fintech companies can come in many forms. Banks can buy equity in fintech firms to upgrade in-house technology capabilities or form an alliance to jointly offer products while taking care of the working capital needs of the fintech partner.

For instance, Singapore-headquartered fintech firm Validus secured a loan of up to US$50 million from HSBC under the bank's Asean growth fund strategy, aimed at supporting micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises.