The support package will help to position financial institutions (FIs) and tintech firms for stronger growth when the threat of COVID-19 recedes and economic activity normalises.
The support package, funded by the Financial Sector Development Fund, has three main components:
MAS will launch a new Training Allowance Grant (TAG) to encourage FIs and fintechs to make use of the downtime in business activity, to train and deepen the capabilities of their employees. The TAG will also be available to support Singapore Citizens (SCs) and Permanent Residents (PRs) outside of the financial services and fintech sectors.
The TAG will supplement the Jobs Support Scheme announced in the Resilience and Solidarity Budgets, by providing training allowances for completing training in courses accredited by the Institute of Banking and Finance (IBF)1 at:
MAS and IBF will increase course fee subsidies for SCs and PRs attending relevant IBF courses IBF to 90% (from the current range of 50% to 70%), and extend the subsidies to include employees of fintechs. The subsidies will be disbursed in advance to help alleviate any cash flow challenges that firms and individuals may face. More than 400 IBFaccredited courses are available on e-learning channels and plans are underway to expand such virtual offerings to meet training needs under the current climate of safe distancing.
MAS will double the salary support for FIs to hire SC fresh graduates or workers from other sectors and place them in talent development programmes under the Finance Associate Management Scheme (FAMS). FAMS is a talent development tool to help groom Singaporeans for future specialist and management roles in the financial services industry through structured programmes offered by FIs. Strengthening Digitalisation and Operational Resilience (USD 35 million).
MAS will set up a new Digital Acceleration Grant (DAG) to support digitalisation in smaller FIs and fintech companies. The DAG will help these firms adopt digital solutions to strengthen operational resilience, process efficiency, risk management and customer service. This will include the adoption of digital tools and upgrading of systems that facilitate business continuity (eg document collaboration solutions and virtual conferencing systems).
The DAG scheme will have two tracks:
MAS will provide all Singapore-based fintech companies six months’ free access to API Exchange (APIX), an online global marketplace and sandbox for collaboration and sales. Through APIX, fintechs and FIs can integrate and test solutions via a cloud-based architecture.
MAS will work with the Singapore FinTech Association (SFA) to set up a new digital self-assessment framework for MAS’ Outsourcing and TRM Guidelines hosted on APIX. Completing the self-assessment will help fintesch firms provide a first-level assurance to FIs about the quality of their solutions.
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