Singapore's virtual banks offer homegrown AI a chance to shine

SENIOR Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam, chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), is right to hail new virtual bank licences expected to be granted later this year as the next chapter in Singapore's banking liberalisation journey. He also has good reason to be confident in the ability of local banks to compete with future digital upstarts.

While it is undoubtedly true that virtual banking will represent a new chapter in Singapore's journey as a world-class financial hub, it is also an important milestone in the city-state's ambitions to be a leading artificial intelli…