ANT Group's unit and a consortium comprising Greenland Financial Holdings Group, Linklogis Hong Kong Ltd, and Beijing Co-operative Equity Investment Fund Management, have been selected to receive the digital wholesale bank (DWB) licences in Singapore.

With this, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has chosen to select just two out of the three licences it could have granted to applicants.

The regulator said the two selected applicants met MAS's expectations and were assessed to be "demonstrably stronger" across the criteria, notwithstanding the general high quality of the eligible applicants.

"As the DWBs are introduced as a pilot, MAS will review whether to grant more of such licences in the future."

The successful applicants must meet all relevant prudential requirements and licensing pre-conditions before MAS grants them their respective banking licences, the regulator said.

MAS expects the new digital banks to commence operations from early 2022.

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MAS had previously announced that it would award banking licences for up to two DFBs and up to three DWBs. There were a total of 14 eligible applications. The applications were assessed on the following criteria:

MAS said the assessment was done on a "holistic basis", taking into account all relevant considerations for each criterion.

MAS also took into consideration the eligible applicants' reviews of the business plans and assumptions underpinning their financial projections arising from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

In a statement, Ravi Menon, managing director of MAS, said: "MAS applied a rigorous, merit-based process to select a strong slate of digital banks. We expect them to thrive alongside the incumbent banks and raise the industry's bar in delivering quality financial services, particularly for currently underserved businesses and individuals. They will further strengthen Singapore's financial sector for the digital economy of the future."