In a heavily-banked market like Singapore, it may seem surprising that there are still underserved consumers. These consumers are everyday users – Gen Zs, self-employed and gig economy workers – who make up more than one-third of Singapore’s population.
Yet, they face challenges in accessing relevant banking products or getting the best out of their banking experience. This is why challenger bank GXS Bank has laid its stakes and is focused on growing in this space that has otherwise been largely neglected by the market.
Launched in August 2022, GXS Bank, owned by homegrown giants Grab and Singtel, became the first digital bank to launch in Singapore under the country’s digital bank license. It is one of only two successful applicants for Singapore’s digital full bank license, which means the bank is able to serve both retail and wholesale customers.
Serving innovative products
Since its launch, GXS Bank has introduced a diverse array of innovative products and features designed to tackle pain points faced by everyday consumers and small businesses when it comes to banking. One such product is the GXS FlexiLoan, a credit product that was rolled out in April 2023. It is the first unsecured loan product in Singapore that puts customers in control – allowing them to pay off their loan partially or in full without any early repayment fees and with the additional perk of interest savings.
The GXS FlexiLoan was designed to challenge the norm of traditional loan products in the market and address pain points that consumers face when taking up a loan and bridge the gaps that hinder their access to credit. There are no early repayment fees and interest is charged daily on a non-compounding basis, giving the option to customers to repay their loans early to save on interest.
More than 100,000 loans were disbursed within the first year of the launch, helping countless dreams take flight. Six months later, the Bank doubled the loans disbursed to 200,000. This accelerated loan growth reflects the mass appeal of the GXS FlexiLoan in Singapore.
Category-defining products
GXS Bank has continued rolling out innovative products through 2024. In September 2024, it rolled out Boost Pocket for GXS Savings Account customers. Boost Pocket is a feature in the GXS Savings Account that functions similarly to a term deposit by offering bonus interest for funds that are committed to a specific tenure. Unlike a term deposit however, GXS Bank customers have the flexibility to withdraw their Boost Pocket funds if they need to. While they will not qualify for the bonus interest should they withdraw prematurely, they still earn a base interest for every day that their funds are in the Boost Pocket.
GXS FlexiCard, the first and only credit card in Singapore that charges flat fees in lieu of interest on outstanding balances, was launched in October 2024. The GXS FlexiCard is designed for consumers who are new to credit or who often struggle with access to credit products due to a lack of credit bureau history. There is no minimum income requirement and GXS FlexiCard holders can choose to settle their credit card bill in full or make the required minimum payment with a S$5 extension fee.
Reimagined customer interactions
Customers are at the heart of GXS Bank. To ensure the products they roll out respond to specific needs and requirements the bank conducts in-depth customer research before commencing the design process. They also go a step further by embedding customer experience champions within key working squads.
By investing in better channel integration and data management systems, GXS Bank has managed to implement a seamless omni-channel experience for customers.
This has resulted in the integration of multiple customer-facing channels, ensuring a unified and consistent customer experience. Their omni-channel management approach consolidates voice, social media, chat, and email into a single inbox, allowing customers to interact through their preferred channels while maintaining consistency.
Additionally, to delight customers through their banking journeys, GXS Bank took a strongly customer-centric approach to set themselves apart from competition. The bank built a unified GXS Customer Experience (CX) framework with measurable outcomes which are adopted bank-wide to deliver a differentiated and superior customer experience consistently.
The customer-centric product builds, systems and infrastructures that GXS Bank has in Singapore has also been adopted and adapted by other digital banks in its regional network.
“Our ambition is to improve financial inclusion and support economic growth for our customers in Southeast Asia,” says Muthukrishnan Ramaswami, Group CEO, GXS Bank.
“We operate as GXS Bank in Singapore and GXBank in Malaysia. In Indonesia, digital bank Superbank also shares Grab and Singtel as our major shareholders. To scale easily across markets, we build our technology and data infrastructure to be modular and relevant in all locations.
“This approach allows us to develop the system once and then adapt it to meet the specific needs of each market. All three banks were launched within a year of each other, the first of many milestones that we have since crossed as a Group.”
Having successfully launched its retail banking services, GXS Bank is on track to launch its business banking solutions in the first quarter of 2025. These services will be rolled out progressively across the region.
GXS Bank picked up a number of accolades at the Global Retail Banking Innovation Awards 2024, held in Singapore by The Digital Banker. These include the Best New Digital Product of the Year award for the GXS FlexiLoan as well as Outstanding Omnichannel Integration by a Digital Bank and Best Customer Centric Business Model – Digital Bank award for its efforts on the CX front.
