Digibank GXS is well on its feet. What's next?

Its group CEO expects bank to turn a profit and start looking for more capital in 2027

- Ravi Velloor

How do you sell all-new digital banking services in a crowded market in one of the most prosperous and possibly overbanked countries in the world? You start by seeking out the underserved, particularly those with lower incomes.

Although Mr Muthukrishnan Ramaswami, former president of the Singapore Exchange, disagrees with the description "fortune at the bottom of the pyramid", made famous by a Michigan management guru, his strategy largely aligns with the concept.

Since being pulled out of retirement in early 2023 by the board of GXS Bank led by chairman Hsieh Fu Hua, Mr Ramaswami has been at the helm of the digital bank set up as a 60-40 joint venture between Grab Holdings and Singtel.

Among the first fully digital banks licensed four years ago by the Monetary Authority of Singapore, GXS is not easy to find on the street. It is headquartered in Portsdown Road, nestled in a building shared with Grab.

But in a way, you could also say it is everywhere - if you are a Singaporean, all you need is a smartphone and a Singpass identity to get on board.

That's what some 250,000 people on the island have done since 2021, plonking down about $1.2 billion in deposits. If you include customers in Malaysia and Indonesia, the bank's total balances top $2 billion.

Interest on that money, which tends to be higher than that offered by the big three local banks, is credited daily. You could also keep the deposits for designated purposes in individual pockets within the account, and label them as, say, "Osaka holiday" or "Batam golf trip".

If you keep the money for a fixed term, you will receive a small bonus if you leave it untouched for the promised tenure. There is no penalty for early withdrawals.

Above all, GXS' mission is to make banking simple and fun. Customers could be excused for thinking they just pulled in a gaming app, not a bank.