Singapore’s efforts to position itself as a regional hub for Fintech face a critical stumbling block, as most Fintech firms say they cannot obtain the bank data needed to build services for small businesses, a new industry report has shown.
Fintech Nation, a public-benefit corporation that operates an investment platform, think-tank and ecosystem builder, surveyed local fintech companies active in lending, corporate services, digital payments and software-as-a-service.
Eighty-five percent of respondents said requests for application programming interface (API) connections to incumbent banks had been denied outright or held up for long periods, sharply limiting their ability to service Singapore’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
Only one in 10 fintechs reported having live access to real-time SME banking data.
The report said the information gap was slowing the rollout of credit-scoring engines, embedded-finance tools and personalised lending products that could help smaller firms bridge working-capital gaps and digitise operations.
Respondents also described engagement with banks as “inconsistent and unstructured,” with unclear escalation paths when API access is refused.
The findings highlight a tension between Singapore’s public stance on open banking and the practical difficulties fintech players face on the ground.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) launched initiatives such as SGFinDex and the API Exchange (APIX), but the study suggests these frameworks have not yet translated into broad-based connectivity for non-bank providers.
Fintech Nation recommended a series of measures to unlock the bottleneck. Chief among them is the creation of collaborative “API sandboxes” where fintechs can test integrations with bank systems under controlled conditions.
The report also urged regulators and industry groups to establish a central directory of bank APIs, streamline onboarding requirements and tighten supervisory guidance to curb discretionary rejections.
Standardised protocols, it said, would promote competition, spur innovation and ultimately expand access to capital for the country’s 219,000-plus SMEs.
The group added that regulators, banks and technology firms should convene regular forums to shape a transparent, inclusive framework for data sharing.
Such steps, it said, would help ensure Singapore’s fintech ambitions translate into tangible benefits for small businesses and sustain the city-state’s edge as a digital-finance centre.