Singapore citizens will get another reason to be a tension-free community, with the arrival of the Government’s latest initiative of offering instant online opening and activation of bank accounts, in four major national banks, without supporting documentation.
Commencing dry-runs of the latest digital enlisting service via a pilot platform under ‘MyInfo’, a customer service led by the Island’s Smart Nation and Digital Government Office (SNDGO) and Government Technology Agency (GovTech), in collaboration with Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the facility shall arrive as a technological landmark in accessing new bank transaction opportunities by every citizen in the country.
As a nation with a penchant for rolling out new and ‘make-life-easy’ initiatives for the people, the move comes as a natural extension of its large database of ID’s and registered credentials, already in place under the MyInfo program, that has brought SingPass users several popular government digital services, since 2016.
With MyInfo, the government already operates the balloting for Singapore’s Housing Development Board, for its Build-To-Order (BTO) products – apartments, for registered applicants.
With the new e-development, prospective customers with their profiles already registered on www.myinfo.go.sg can simply apply for a new bank account without submitting copies of their identity proof or income and CPF documents.
The banks that will offer the facility include : United Overseas Bank (UOB), Development Bank of Singapore (DBS), Overseas-Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC) and Standard Chartered Bank (StanChart), all of which are nationally-recognised and leading banking institutions with a wide range of customer services and financial packages.
Speaking about the future of the new venture, the Chief Fintech Officer of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, Sopnendu Mohanty, made the following comment,
“MAS is excited by the opportunities that national infrastructure platforms can bring to the financial industry, such as hassle-free online account opening and instant account activation, in the near future.”
According to reliable sources, this is just the beginning. The e-platform will lend itself to several other areas of customer benefits, including transactions on debit and credit cards, home loans, etc., within the time-frame of this year.
In other words, the facility shall function as a “win-win for the public, banks and the government”, as the CIO of StanChart, Michael Gorritz, aptly put it.
Great going for Singaporeans, once again.
