Revolut bows out of Singapore digibank race: CEO

HIGH-profile payments fintech Revolut has bowed out of the race for a digital banking licence in Singapore over high capital requirements, its top executive told The Business Times.

"Based on our initial analysis, it does not make sense to have a banking licence here because of the capital requirements," said Revolut chief executive Nikolay Storonsky at the sidelines of the Singapore FinTech Festival and Singapore Week of Innovation and TeCHnology (SFF x SWITCH) conference.

This comes even as the UK-based fintech has been in talks with "almost every single company" in Singapore that has considered applying for a digital banking licence, a Revolut spokesperson further told BT.

An applicant for the digital full bank should meet the minimum paid-up capital of S$1.5 billion within three to five years' time from commencement of business, according to the Monetary Authority of Singapore. At the restricted stage, the minimum paid-up capital stands at S$15 million.

Earlier this month, Revolut launched its multicurrency e-wallet services in Singapore. The firm has since amassed more than 30,000 active users.

For all our coverage on this year's Singapore FinTech Festival x Singapore Week of Innovation and TeCHnology (SWITCH), go to bt.sg/sffxswitch2019