Grab-Singtel’s GXS bank cuts about 10% of workforce as it moves on from early-stage operations
Loss of 82 jobs part of the group’s transition from building a bank to running the operations: CEO Lai Pei-Si
[SINGAPORE] Digital bank GXS is cutting 82 jobs or about 10 per cent of its workforce across the group.
The exercise is part of the group’s transition from the early growth stages of building a bank to running the operations, said GXS group chief executive Lai Pei-Si in a note to staff.
“The roles that are essential as we move forward and focus on running the bank may be different from our build phase,” said Lai.
These cuts were done after a strategic review to identify roles critical for the next phase. The review was undertaken across subsidiaries GXS Bank in Singapore, GXBank in Malaysia and its tech centre in India.
GXS – set up by Grab and Singtel – has been growing and meeting the milestones set, with retail and business banking segments launched in Singapore and Malaysia, Lai noted.
“We continue to bring new products and services (to) our customers,” she added.
The group had tried to streamline its operations through staff attrition, but “the pace of organic reshaping has been slower than expected”, she said. Only Malaysia managed to do this, with Singapore and India bearing the job cuts.
The roles that have been made redundant were chosen based on the strategic review, and not on an individual’s performance, she added.
GXS will provide extended medical coverage for three months, career transition support and counselling services. Severance and goodwill payments as well as garden leave to find a new job will also be extended, subject to prevailing market practices.
Lai has been CEO of GXS since June 2025, succeeding Muthukrishnan Ramaswami. She was previously chief executive of GXBank in Malaysia.
GXS reported net interest income growth to S$30.2 million in the 2024 financial year, from S$14.9 million in FY2023. Losses widened to S$214.3 million from S$208.2 million.
The job cuts come amid a shift in digital banks’ priorities in Singapore, from customer growth to defending the deposit base and encouraging customer stickiness.
GXS and Maribank have been dangling offers for their credit cards, loans and investment offerings in recent months. Interest rates, meanwhile, for savings deposit accounts with GXS, Maribank and Trust have fallen in tandem with US Federal Reserve rates.
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