Ant Group Launches a Neobank In Singapore

Ant Group is an affiliate company of Alibaba Group and is responsible for China’s largest digital payment playtform, Alipay. Alibaba owns about a third of Ant Group and is controlled by Jack Ma (Alibaba founder and former CEO). Alibaba is one of the worlds largest e-commerce platforms and set a record as the largest initial public offering (IPO) back in 2014 raising $25.03 billion. Alibaba is followed by Visa and General Motors for the second and third highest IPOs, respectively.

On 11/03/2020, Chinese regulators derailed plans for an initial public offering for Ant Group. It had planned to raise around $35 billion, which would have set a new record for largest IPO.

The bank is now currently soft launching and will be made more widely available during Q3.

Read more on The Block

Neobanks are “fintech firms that offer apps, software, and other technologies to streamline mobile and online banking.” Neobanks are usually online only platforms, whereas most online banks have a bank charter and provide more services. One of the most widely recoginzed neobank is Chime. Chime is a fintech company and not a bank, but can issue banking services and debit cards through The Bancorp Bank or Stride Bank.
Read more on Neobanks by Forbes