Despite being almost overcrowded, the Singapore market is apparently still interesting for some newcomers. Trust Bank aims to be the city-state's fourth-largest retail bank by 2024.
Singapore has a unique sense in which people are comfortable with holding multiple banking accounts. Thus, it is possible to be a secondary bank in the city-state and still very sizable and profitable, said Trust Bank CEO Dwaipayan Sadhu (pictured below), during an event attended by finews.asia Monday.
«Unlike other markets, where people might only have one primary bank. Here, people are very comfortable with spreading out their banking relationship,» he added.
NTUC Ecosystem
Dwaipayan Sadhu (Image: Trust Bank)
As it is backed by Standard Chartered Bank and Singapore’s NTUC Fairprice Group, Trust Bank sees its business will grow accordingly with the size of NTUC’s ecosystem, which now accounts for 900,000 members.
Currently, around 500,000 NTUC members have joined Trust Bank. «Expanding further into the NTUC ecosystem is a core part of the strategy,» Sadhu said.
On the other hand, Trust Bank’s transparent and digital app will also support its position against existing banks. The digital loyalty program also benefits customers and has zero cost for the bank.
Instant Loans
Entering the market in September 2022, Trust Bank continues to launch a new product namely Trust card for travel with zero foreign exchange fees. This also includes travel insurance products from Income Insurance Limited.
In the future, the bank eyes to launch instant loans which will be unsecured products. According to Sadhu, Singapore’s regulated market is believed to support the overall loan market and make it under control.
Break-even in 2025
Although it was only launched in less than a year, Trust Bank aims to be Singapore's fourth largest retail bank by 2024. It also plans to achieve break-even in 2025.
