OCBC Bank lets startups open business account immediately after incorporation

STARTUPS are now able to open an OCBC business banking account in Singapore immediately after incorporation, instead of having to wait one day.

This is thanks to an application programming interface (API) between OCBC Bank and global information services provider Experian (formerly known as DP Information). Once a business is incorporated, OCBC Bank can, via Experian, validate the startup's business profile issued by the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (Acra), OCBC said.

Currently, banks usually process applications at least one day after incorporation.

Many businesses will benefit from this initiative, the bank highlighted. According to data from the Department of Statistics, over 65,000 businesses were incorporated in the 12-month period from August 2018 to August 2019.

Christie Chu, head of emerging business and commercial banking cash, OCBC Bank, said: "Banks play a key role in the startup and SME ecosystem partly because the bank account is at the centre of business operations. Given this role and our standing as banker to more than one in two SMEs in Singapore, we are in the best position to strengthen the connections among all players in this ecosystem. That is what we have done here by streamlining the account opening and incorporation process so that startups can begin running their businesses as soon as possible."