Companies based in Singapore are now able to instantly open a business banking account with the Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation, Limited (OCBC) Bank (SGX: O39), a multinational banking and financial services corporation.
According to the announcement, local startups are now able to open an OCBC account right after incorporation, instead of waiting one business day. Accounts can be opened almost instantly now because of a new API interface between OCBC Bank and Experian, a global information services company.
After a company is incorporated, OCBC Bank can use Experian’s platform to verify the firm’s business profile, which is issued and monitored by the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (Acra), the bank explained.
Banks in Singapore normally take at least one business day to process applications after incorporation.
Many local startups will benefit from this initiative, OCBC’s representatives said. More than 65,000 businesses have been incorporated between August 2018 and August 2019, according to Singapore’s Department of Statistics.
Christie Chu, head of emerging business and commercial banking cash at OCBC Bank, stated:
“Banks play a key role in the startup and SME ecosystem partly because the bank account is at the centre of business operations. Given this role and our standing as banker to more than one in two SMEs in Singapore, we are in the best position to strengthen the connections among all players in this ecosystem. That is what we have done here by streamlining the account opening and incorporation process so that startups can begin running their businesses as soon as possible.”