A MAS-sive change in online banking

BANKING in Asia is often on the cutting edge of technical change. Online and mobile banking have been an integral part of a revolution, bringing the general public into digital life and making online living more ubiquitous.

A recent article in The Business Times by Jamie Lee talked about how banking is again embracing innovation and creating an environment where experimentation and blue sky thinking will be encouraged for the good of banking in general - "Banks free to test certain digital innovations without approval: MAS" (BT, June 30).

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has breathed new life into technology based on the standards and expectations of FinTech firms (financial technology). In other words, the MAS is opening its stall in the knowledge that experimentation in technological approach can be good and needs to be supported - this support being in the region of S$225 million in funding that will put Singapore at the forefront of technological innovation in banking.