Jack Ma hails a cheaper Singapore ride than Grab

Founder and Chairman of Chinese internet giant Alibaba Jack Ma gives a speech at Paris' high profile startups and high tech leaders gathering, Viva Tech, in Paris, France May 16, 2019. REUTERS/Charles Platiau

THE much-anticipated arrival of virtual banking in Singapore is unlikely to be an “aha” moment for consumer finance, but corporate banking will be different. One should expect disruption.

The application period for Singapore’s first Internet-only lenders ended last week with five known hopefuls, so far, for as many licenses on offer. The move mirrors the grant of eight licenses in rival financial centre Hong Kong. The idea is to introduce fancy fintech tools - big data, machine learning and artificial intelligence - into local banking systems to make them more competitive. The Singapore winners will be known by mid-year.